The Chaos Chronicles
by Strike3
Summary: The story of the Chaos Cosmos, from where Chaos Comics left off.
1. Lady Death: Dark Alliance, part one

The Chaos Chronicles  
  
I am writing this series, to continue the story of Lady Death and the entire Chaos Cosmos, from where Chaos Comics left off.  
I have decided to re-write the first three issues of Lady Death: Dark Alliance in text form. This is partly so I can get an idea of about how long a single issue is in this form, and so other readers can know what's happening. Dark Alliance was a five-part series, but Chaos Comics only released the first three issues, and then they folded.  
After that, I will complete the Dark Alliance story, based on hints and rumours given out over the internet by Pulido, Ostrander and Reis. And then I will continue with new stories that are all my own. Not just about Lady Death. I will try to write about all of the Chaos characters.  
Although Lady Death and entire Chaos stable were struggling in the final days, I do not believe the stories or the characters were beyond repair. I still think they could have been great again. This project is my idea of how.  
  
Lady Death  
Dark Alliance  
Part One: Rebirth  
  
Eerie chanting echoed across the barren plain. A great monstrous horde gathered there, an army of demons and monsters, and they all chanted with a single voice. The horde was all that remained of the once mighty armies of Hell, and the plain lay within the heart of the Demon Nation.  
The horde surrounded a giant pentagram inscribed into the blasted ground, a pentagram that burned with hellish fire. Several figures stood at each point of the pentagram, leading the horde in the fell invocation. A disfigured imp dressed like a medieval court jester, complete with bells in his hat, capered at one point of the pentagram. A terrifying and mighty centaur reared at another point, a creature that had the body of a demonic horse and the upper body of a man, and wore fearsome-looking armour. At the third point stood a regal but human-looking man, who showed no fear in the presence of the others, bare-chested as he was. At the fourth point, two beautiful and deadly women with horns on their heads also lent their lilting voices to the chant, their forked tongues flickering between their teeth. At the final point of the pentagram, a young man in a leather jacket also joined the chanting. Behind him towered a brutal thug with a tattooed chest and countless piercings across his face.  
At the centre of the pentagram, within a burning pillar of flame, a final figure floated cross-legged in mid-air, reading from a foul mystical grimoire, leading the entire ritual with his powerful voice, his face hidden behind a silken veil. But his thin horns, pointed ears and green skin reveal his monstrous heritage.  
For an entire day the demonic horde chanted, led by the powerful figures around the pentagram. Voices cracked and grew weary, yet the chanting never ceased, for the horde was eager to see the results of the spell. None of them knew its purpose, all they knew was that those leading the chant, those powerful surrounding the pentagram, were about to sacrifice their spirits, their eternal existence, to give power to the magic. All of them wished to see what invocation could be so powerful as to be worth the sacrifice of such powerful beings.  
Suddenly, the figure at the centre of the pentagram ceased his chant. The figures around the pentagram also grew silent. Unaware that the invocation had come to an end, the horde continued chanting, repeating the mystic syllables again and again.  
The pillar of flame at the heart of the pentagram surged up, grew larger. Hellfire raced along the lines of the pentagram and blasted into the figures surrounding it. Yet they did not burn, they simply embraced the flames and turned them back, concentrating the mystical power back into itself. The power continued to feed on itself, growing larger and more unstable, until finally it exploded.  
An immense wave of hellfire rushed out from the pentagram and rolled over the gathered horde, incinerating them all. The demons screamed as their bodies were destroyed and their spirits consumed, drained away to power the great spell.  
The fires of the pentagram surged into a single immense pillar of flame, which withed and twisted upon itself. Slowly, it formed a monstrous, vaguely humanoid shape. The fires slowly burned down, and as they did so, a figure appeared within their heart.  
Eventually, the flames vanished. In their place stood a powerful, majestic, horrifying figure. His skin was red as blood and his muscles seemed forged of steel. Curved horns swept up from his skull, and within his eyes there was the glow of almost limitless power, unfathomable intelligence, and limitless evil.  
As the terrible figure stepped out of the last burning embers, the spellcasters, who had thought they could control the ritual, slowly picked themselves up off the floor, still reeling from the blast of hellfire. They stared at the figure in awe, and fear.  
The green-skinned figure who had led the entire ritual, flew up behind the enormous red-skinned creature. In a voice that held a slight but noticeable tremor, he spoke to the creature.  
"Lord...master...Do you know us? Do you know yourself?"  
The creature turned his gaze upon his questioner and grinned, showing fanged teeth.  
"Yeeeeesss..." the creature rumbled, in a voice that resonated with ancient malice. "I am Lucifer. Oh yes, I know who I am."  
The fallen archangel then watched as the other figures, the imp, the centaur, the three men and the two women, all staggered forward, and slowly knelt at his feet.  
"And I know you," Lucifer continued, "my...mostly...loyal servants."  
Lucifer then swept his gaze across the plain, across the field of ashes that was all that remained of the demonic army, and a slight hint of concern crossed his features.  
"And this should be Hell. My domain. But Hell is gone. Hmmm. We shall have to give some thought to this."  
Lucifer invited his servants to gather round, and allowed the two seductresses to drape their bodies under his mighty arms.  
"No Kingdom, no followers, little to rule, to exploit to ravish." Lucifer spoke with little regret, only fierce ambition. "I have an idea to rectify that. Yes. I will have my due."  
"One of the men, the bare-chested, regal-looking one, stepped forward. "And what about us, father?" he asked. "We who have served. What is our due?"  
Lucifer stared at him, and an expression of pure rage appeared on his face. Swiftly, Lucifer lifted his arm and fired a blast of pure hellfire at his son, blasting his head from his shoulders. As his corpse fell in a pool of blood, Lucifer answered his question.  
"To serve me further, and serve me better. I will rectify the mistakes of the past and you, Thanatos, were one of them."  
  
Six months later, on a different plane of existence entirely, five men held a conference in a room that did not officially exist. Four of the men sat around a table, sipping strong black coffee, listening to the words of the fifth man as he stood in front of a bank of television screens.  
The screens all showed images of the same man, a strong and wise- looking man, as he performed countless acts of compassion and mercy. He mediated peace between sworn enemies, performed miracles in front of cheering crowds, and gave sermons that encouraged an end to war and a life of peace.  
The man in front of the screens was middle-aged, but still strong and fit, and he bore a long goatee on his chin. With a growling voice, he spoke to the other four.  
"Since his first appearance four months ago, the man calling himself Neox – who some of his followers have called the new Messiah – and his organization – the Church Of Divine Ascension or CODA – have garnered millions of followers worldwide. His church has no ties with any previous established religion including Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism and we have learned nothing about his own personal background. He has achieved peace in the mideast and all his 'miracles' appear legit."  
The speaker stared at the others intently, emphasizing his words with his eyes.  
"I think he's the most dangerous man in the world today."  
One of the other four, an old man wearing glasses and smoking a thin cigar, asked a simple question. "Why?"  
"Because I've had a vision of Hell unleashed," came the reply. "Raw, red carnage unleashed on the streets. Children fried on burning spears. The armies of Hell unchecked. All tied to CODA. You and me, Mr. Molto – we don't share the same history I had with your predecessor. I know that. But Alexander Scott learned to trust my visions – and what happened when they were ignored!"  
Mr. Molto was unimpressed. "Yes, yes, Mr. Gallows – I've heard all about you and your vaunted visions! I am not my predecessor and I regard your 'report' as just so much garbage. Thank you for wasting my time!"  
Gallows glared at Mr. Molto, and at the other three, and saw only scepticism on their faces. Seeing no way to convince them, Gallows turned and stormed out of the room, muttering furiously to himself.  
"Blind, stupid, and arrogant. And others will pay for it!"  
Gallows left the secret conference behind and made his way out onto the streets of New York City. It was night and the streets were deserted in this part of town. Gallows headed for a street corner, where another figure leaned against a lamppost, waiting for him. This other figure would have appeared human, were it not for the fleshless skull in place of a face, which he usually hid under a wide-brimmed hat. His name was Bedlam, and his ability to cross time and space at will made him powerful, but left him isolated. Nevertheless, he and Gallows had struck up a friendship of sorts.  
As Gallows approached, he gave vent to his anger. "I hate bureaucrats!"  
Gallows passed the corner and continued stalking down the street, and Bedlam hurried to catch up. "Lemme guess, pard. Meeting went down exactly as I said it would. Next step?"  
Gallows turned to face him, unperturbed by Bedlam's monstrous visage. "Plan B. We start gathering the ones I also saw in the vision – the ones I didn't tell Molto about. I already got my first recruit snooping around over at the CODA runaway shelter downtown. Don't know if you know her. She's a part-time actress, part-time assassin, all-the-time vampire, going by the name of Chastity."  
  
Meanwhile, in the cellars below that very same shelter currently being discussed by Gallows and Bedlam, a leather-clad red headed woman rifled through numerous filing cabinets, searching quickly for the information she sought. Finally, pulling up a certain file, she grinned as she apparently found what she was looking for.  
Engrossed in her reading, she didn't hear the door open behind her, and only spun around when she heard a female voice call out her name in surprise.  
"Chastity?!"  
Chastity saw a teenage girl in a thin nightshirt standing in the doorway, and her eyes widened with recognition.  
"Sarah Wilson?! What are you doing here, girl?! Where's your brother and your uncle? Last time I saw you and Lady Death...!"  
Sarah turned away, hiding her face, but her reply was filled with rage and despair.  
"I remember. Tommy and Uncle Ralph were still alive. You and I and Lady D had gone clothes shopping. She was mortal, not sure of who she was, decided she needed a new look. Decided I needed one too. We came back to find Uncle Ralph and Tommy dead! They'd been killed by a woman named Morgana who was hunting Lady D! She made Lady D kneel before her while she drank my brother's soul! I...went crazy. I attacked her and Lady D...she hit me! I knew nothing else until I woke up later at Sanctuary – that old abandoned church Lady D uses. It was really weird! The old stained glass windows in the Sanctuary were changed and the images in them moved! Lady D herself was changed. She seemed, well, less human. And there were these two really strange guys talking to her! One was big and brutal and the other was like a gnome or something!"  
Lost in her memories, Sarah Wilson saw again the abandoned church called Sanctuary. She again saw the strange images within the stained-glass windows – images of other worlds and strange realities. She again saw the tall woman, dressed in black leather, marked with golden skulls, and with a long black cloak streaming out behind her. The woman's skin was as white as a corpse, and her hair was also pure white. On one hand she bore a steel gauntlet. Her eyes were pupilless, and though she was incredibly beautiful, her features were cold and utterly inhuman.  
By her shoulder stood a tall, brutal man with muscles like oaken trunks. His skin was scarred in countless places, and he wore a brown leather hood over his features. In front of her, a small man with pointed ears and green skin wiped his hands on a cloth, with an expression of satisfaction on his face.  
The little man spoke. "Well, m'lady – we got some dimensional interfaces patched into the window frames. Reaper created a rift we can make our own use of. Images will come at random unless you put your mind to it. Put some of your power behind it and they'll act like portals. Let you and whoever you want come back and forth between here and your fortress at Winterhaven or wherever."  
The white-skinned lady glanced at the images in the window frames, then gazed imperiously down at the small figure. "Excellent work, Brock!" she spoke in a voice that was as cold and lifeless as the grave. "You, too, Cremator!"  
Sarah remembered sitting up, and calling out in shock. "Lady D?!"  
The woman Sarah once knew as Lady D looked at her, then slowly walked over towards where she lay on one of the pews. As she approached, she spoke in that cold voice of hers.  
"Yes. Don't be afraid. This is my true form. I'm sorry I had to strike you. It was necessary for your own protection – and to vanquish Morgana. She's gone."  
Sarah remembered standing up, walking forward, and screaming into her face.  
"What about my brother?! What about Tommy?! You let him die?!"  
"If I could have prevented it, I would have," the lady replied without emotion. "Once the deed was done, it could not be undone. You must accept this."  
"No!" Sarah had replied, backing away from the being who had once been her friend. "I could have saved him! I did it before! Oh, why did I ever meet you?!" Sarah had turned and run out of the church, screaming in despair. "I don't ever want to see you again!"  
Sarah blinked away the memories, bringing herself back to the present. She gazed at Chastity with empty eyes, as she completed her story. "I couldn't go back to the apartment. Uncle Ralph had been murdered there! I wandered the streets. It was so cold and dark...! I heard about this place so I came here...Looking for a place to be safe..."  
Chastity suddenly took hold of Sarah's arm and ran past her out of the room. "Sweetie, you've come to the wrong place," Chastity told her, pulling her along up the stairs. "C'mon. You'll stay with me until we sort things out! But we're leaving now!"  
  
At the same time, on a rooftop high above, the white-skinned being known as Lady Death gazed down at the rear entrance to the shelter, her cloak fluttering in the night-time breeze. Beside her was a presence that few in this world could even see. The presence appeared to her as a black man wearing a leather jacket over a suit and tie.  
Lady Death spoke to the presence. "You're certain this is where Sarah Wilson came, Virgil Solomon?"  
"Yeah," the ghost of Virgil Solomon replied. "Sometimes, being a ghost makes it easier to snoop around and I still have all my detective skills. She's there, alright. Look, I've learned a lot recently about making things right with those you care about. Sarah feels betrayed and used. You know how you feel about that. Talk to the girl."  
"And do what? Apologize? I am not in the habit of asking forgiveness of anyone!"  
Suddenly, Lady Death sniffed the air. "Hold! I smell a Hellspawn!"  
She gazed down at the courtyard below, and saw a man furtively sneaking into the rear entrance of the CODA shelter. She glared in shock and fury.  
"Pagan! In mortal guise?! What is the meaning of this?!"  
Without hesitation, Lady Death dove off the roof, using her sorcery to control her flight. "Sarah must wait," she murmured to herself as she chased after the disappearing Pagan.  
On the rooftop, the ghost of Virgil glared down after her. Easier to fight than apologize, isn't it? he thought to himself. Ahhh, I'm out of here! Virgil allowed his presence to fade from the rooftop, disappearing from all sight.  
Lady Death opened the back door of the shelter, her thoughts churning with hate as she headed inside. The pestilent little rat went this way...  
Suddenly, she was struck down behind by a terrific blow. Caught off guard, she fell to her knees. Shaking her head to clear away the dizziness, she looks up, to see a capering imp dressed like a hellish court jester. Between them stands a hulking figure, his bare chest covered with hideous tattoos and his face studded with piercings. In one mighty fist he holds a leather whip, while the other fist burns with hellfire.  
The imp laughs at her. "Well look who's here. Lady Dope!" Pagan points at the tattooed hulk. "Hiya toots! Meet Slaughterhouse – the new employee. Slaughterhouse, this is Lady Death, kill her."  
Slaughterhouse marches towards her with a snarl. "Gladly – If I can do it with pain. I like pain."  
Lady Death rises up to meet him. "You don't know what pain is – yet."  
Slaughterhouse throws his burning fist forward with inhuman speed, and Lady Death, surprised at the ferocity, is caught again and sent staggering backwards from a punch to jaw. Slaughterhouse roars at her. "This is pain, bitch!"  
Lady Death does not fall, however. She holds up her arms and cries out. "Apocalypse! Scynister! To me!"  
Her hands begin to glow as her weapons start to appear. However, before the summoning can be completed, Slaughterhouse uncoils his whip and snaps it forward, ensnaring Lady Death's right arm in its cord and ruining the spell. As the energy in her right hand dissipates, Slaughterhouse mocks her. "Heard tell your wrist was broken. Was it this one?"  
Though prevented from summoning a weapon into her right hand, her other weapon, Scynister, appeared in her left hand. It appeared as a golden sickle, but with a thought, she magically extended a length of golden chain between the blade and the hilt. She snapped the blade back, slicing through Slaughterhouse's whip and catching him across the jaw in the process. As the brute reeled, Lady Death howled in rage.  
"Enough of this! Pagan, why do you walk the Earth pretending to be mortal?! What do you seek to conceal?!"  
Pagan grinned at her mockingly from the back of the room. "Hmmmmm. I suppose I could tell you – since you'll soon be dead. Nahhh. You can die like you lived – an ignorant slut. Toodle-loo, toots!"  
With a flash of hellfire and brimstone, the cackling imp disappeared.  
As Lady Death snapped her blade at Slaughterhouse again, the brute caught the chain in his bare hands and pulled her towards him with monstrous strength.  
"Come closer, slut!" he leered at her. "I want to dance with you! I want your screams in my ear as I break you! I want...Oh, how I want you!"  
Lady Death swung her fists at him, her hands glowing with mystical power. "If it is death you lust for, I will satisfy you!"  
Slaughterhouse returned her punches, blow for blow.  
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he howled in a battle-frenzy. "No pity! No mercy! Let the blood flow and the good times roll, baby! Yaaaah!!!" 


	2. Lady Death: Dark Alliance, part two

The Chaos Chronicles  
Lady Death  
Dark Alliance  
Part Two: Fury  
  
Lady Death reeled from a devastating punch, her magical weapon, Scynister, flying from her grip. The brutal thug, Slaughterhouse, sang joyfully as his blow connected.  
"BAM! Put a hurt on youuuuu!"  
Before the pale-skinned demi-goddess could recover, Slaughterhouse rammed his boot into her stomach. "WHAM! Get a taste o' my boot!"  
As Slaughterhouse advanced for another strike, Lady Death threw a bolt of mystic fire into his face. "Shut your mouth!" she ordered.  
As Slaughterhouse staggered back, his entire head burning, Lady Death took a moment to recover from the thug's beating. "Your singing...was more lethal...than your blows!"  
Slaughterhouse beat away the flames from his face, then grinned down at her. "Booyah! You put a hurt on me too! Just like makin' looove! Let's see if we can make it last all night long!"  
His fury undiminished, Slaughterhouse ran at her and backhanded her across the room. "WHACK! Try 'n' keep up wid me, bay-bee!"  
  
In the corridor outside, the red-headed vampire, Chastity, led the teenage runaway, Sarah Wilson, to the exit. As they approached the room in which Slaughterhouse and Lady Death fought, Chastity held up her hand, warning Sarah to stay back. The two of them listened carefully to the sound of the frenzied battle.  
"Whatever is going down next door is going to wake the whole house," Chastity said. "We better get out..."  
Sarah interrupted her. "Chastity! It's Lady D! I can feel it!"  
Chastity peered around the corner and stared into the room, where Slaughterhouse held Lady Death by the throat in his massive grip, and was throttling her. "Sarah, Kiddo, you sure?!" Chastity asked her. "She doesn't look like the last time I saw her!"  
"Yes!" Sarah was adamant. "That's Lady D! And whatever she's fighting is killing her!"  
"Okay, if you say so, kiddo!" Chastity responded. "Hang back!"  
Chastity charged into the room, and as she did so, her face underwent a change, becoming more feral, her teeth lengthened into fangs, and her pupils disappeared. "I'm gonna have a little dance with big and stupid here!"  
Chastity leapt onto Slaughterhouse's back, causing him to drop Lady Death in surprise. "Hi there, big boy!" she greeted playfully. "I'm feeling a li'l peckish! Mind if I have li'l bite?!" And with that, she sank her fangs deep into his throat.  
The vampire took a single sip, then lifted up her head and howled in agony. "Gahhhk! Your blood is like lava!"  
While Chastity attempted to spit out his boiling blood, Slaughterhouse reached up behind him and grabbed her arms. He then swung her up, over, and down, slamming the vampire onto Lady Death, who was still attempting to recover her breath. "KLOP!" he howled. "Two pretty girls to play with?! My lucky day!"  
The two women attempted to disentangle themselves from each other. "What...do you think...you're doing?!" Lady Death hissed.  
"Umm...helping?" Chastity replied.  
Lady Death was unimpressed. "You call this...helping?!"  
Slaughterhouse advanced on them once more, still as unstoppable as ever. "Okay girlies! Let's all play stomp the bitch flat!"  
Suddenly, Slaughterhouse heard a voice scream behind from him. "Leave them alone!"  
Turning around, he saw a teenage girl waving her fist defiantly at him. As the thug advanced on the girl, Lady Death and Chastity looked on in horror. "Sarah!" Lady Death shouted desperately. "Get away!"  
Sarah did not move. She stood her ground as Slaughterhouse approached. "Looks like they both care something for you!" he snarled. "Guess it'll hurt them when I rip you apart like a rag doll!" He raised his fists to strike. "Come to Daddy! Daddy wants to spank!"  
"No!" Sarah replied. She raised both her arms up high, and mystical energy began to glow all around her. "I am sick of all you demonic types who think you can't be hurt! I want you to know pain! Hell or no Hell, I want your soul to burn!"  
Slaughterhouse suddenly staggered, as he felt his strength fading, and a glowing mist began to seep out of his body. "Eh? This can't be right." he muttered, as a look of confusion crossed his face, but then his features creased up in unspeakable agony and he screamed as a translucent image of himself was torn out of his body, shredded, and vaporized. As the mist faded into nothingness, Slaughterhouse took one final step, and then collapsed to the floor.  
Sarah's body ceased to glow, and she was just a normal girl again. Chastity kneeled down next to the body and checked his pulse. "Well...this is weird! Creep's alive but it's like nobody's home!"  
"His soul was consumed and Sarah willed it." Lady Death turned her gaze upon the girl. "I want to know how you did that."  
"Later, okay?" Chastity interrupted. "I hear voices which means we'll have company in a minute."  
Lady Death turned and began walking towards the exit. "Very well. We'll retire to my Sanctuary."  
"No. I'm not going." Sarah announced, and Lady Death turned back to gaze at her questioningly. "Look, something weird is going down here. I live here. I can find out what."  
Chastity placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's got a point."  
"There are other kids here," Sarah continued. "I don't want anyone sacrificed like Tommy was, okay?"  
"So be it," Lady Death agreed. "You speak like a warrior. I would not deny that to anyone."  
As the pale goddess and the vampire headed for the exit, Chastity looked back at Sarah. "I'll sneak back and check with you, kiddo." She then whispered to Lady Death. "LD, we need to take this outside."  
  
A short while later, on a nearby rooftop, Chastity told Lady Death what she knew.  
"Here's the poop. There's this guy calling himself Neox and he's started this Church Of Divine Ascension. CODA, for short. Some people are calling him the new Messiah. Brand new religion. No ties with any other. It's growing fast but there's something weird connected with it and if, as you say, these Lords of Hell are connected to it, then things are bad strange. I'm working for this guy named Gallows. Secret agent sort of guy. Knows a lot. I need to get this info to him and I think I know where to find him. You game?"  
"I will consent to meet with this 'Gallows,'" Lady Death replied.  
Chastity instantly leapt up, and headed for the next roof over. "Then let's get gone."  
Lady Death, calling upon her magic, flew after her.  
  
Half a world away, in the ancient land of Egypt, a great crowd of people gathered in the desert outside one of the great pyramids. Atop a podium before the crowd, a charismatic preacher spoke to them all in a persuasive and compassionate voice.  
"These are dangerous times," he told them. "A conflict is coming between great enemies that will spill into the streets! Innocent blood will be shed by these false gods for they have no love, no regard for humanity.  
Most within the crowd stared up at the man with awe and wonder. But two of them, both women dressed in ghurkas, gazed at him with open suspicion.  
One of the women spoke to her companion. "You must admit, Sakkara, this Neox is quite...compelling."  
"We came to observe this 'new Messiah,' Rakshasa – not to enlist!"  
Neox continued to speak to the crowd. "I speak with my Lord! I speak for my Lord! And so you might know the truth of my words – behold! The desert blooms!"  
At the preacher's words, the barren desert behind the crowd suddenly sprang to life. Shoots rose up from the sand and grew into mighty trees. Grass spread out around them, and a large pool of clear water rose up at the centre of this new oasis.  
As the crowd surged among the trees, the growths on the branches came loose and fell to earth. But instead of fruit, it was bread that fell from the trees. Several of the crowd caught up the strange bread and took a bite, and they gasped in pleasure at the wonderful taste.  
"Behold!" Neox cried. "The sky rains down bread! Eat your fill, my friends. I must...retire...for I am weary...!"  
As the crowd joyfully filled their stomachs with the miraculous bread, Neox left the stage and disappeared inside the pyramid itself.  
"Follow," Sakkara bid her companion, and as they both furtively headed for the same doorway that Neox had passed through, Sakkara hissed. "I do not trust those who claim to be messengers of gods."  
As the two women approached the doorway, they are stopped by three large suited bodyguards. "Stop right there, ladies," the largest one tells them. "Neox does not wish to be disturbed."  
"Wrong twice," Sakkara replied. "I am not a lady and I do not care what Neox wishes.  
Instantly, Sakkara slammed her foot into the bodyguard's face with such force that his neck broke. As the other two guards charged at them, Sakkara ducked the first one's blow, dodged behind him and grabbed him from behind round the neck. With a single twist, she broke that one too. Rakshasa, meanwhile, laid out the third guard with a single punch.  
Leaving the bodies behind, the two women headed into the darkness of the pyramid's interior.  
"Strange," Sakkara muttered, as she walked down a long set of stairs, with Rakshasa close behind. "I know Egypt of old. I know these pyramids intimately, and I do not know this entrance.  
Soon, they entered into a large stone chamber, lit by burning braziers. A large stone block lay in the middle of the chamber, and both the block and the walls were engraved with depictions of animal-headed figures.  
"Nor do I know any chamber such as this," Sakkara commented.  
Rakshasa inspected the engravings upon the walls. "These images are also wrong, Sakkara. They're not pictographs – they're more like portraits!"  
Suddenly, a clawed arm reached out from the wall and struck Rakshasa across the face. The arm was attached to one of the jackal-headed images, and as Rakshasa watched, the image stepped out of the wall as a three- dimensional, living beast.  
"Far more than pictures, rash mortal!" the beast snarled.  
"Sakkara!" Rakshasa cried out in warning.  
All around the chamber, men with the heads of beasts stepped out of the walls. As they were surrounded, the two women moved together, standing back to back.  
"Interesting," Sakkara spoke without fear. "As I thought, there is more here than there seemed. As we are more than we seem."  
A seductive, malevolent voice spoke in Sakkara's mind. Release me, girl!  
Sakkara surrendered to the monster inside her.  
In a single moment, her ghurka was shredded as wings tore their way out from her back. Horns sprouted from her temples, her teeth lengthened into fangs, and her flesh became a deep crimson hue. She hissed in pleasure.  
"Yeeessss! Ah, this is sweet! Do you know that you face Purgatori, the blood goddess, doomed ones? And of all the blood I have tasted, I most crave the fiery blood of gods!"  
Behind her, Rakshasa underwent her own transformation, as black fur sprouted across her body and her face lengthened into a cat-like muzzle, filled with vicious fangs. The werepanther leapt at two of the creatures, and Purgatori charged at the other two, reaching forward with both her claws and her mind.  
"But you are not what you pretend to be!" Purgatori snarled. "I have fought Egyptian gods and, when I look into your minds, I see you are not they! You are sendings of some other power!"  
Purgatori slashed at a serpent-headed figure, drawing blood. "Who do you serve?" she demanded.  
The serpent-headed one responded with a back-hand blow, driving her back. "A being more powerful than you, scarlet harlot!"  
Rakshasa, meanwhile, was caught in the grip of two of the other figures. She attempted to break free, but found that her supernatural strength was fading. Even her fur was beginning to recede, and her muzzle starting to flatten. "Purgatori!" she cried. "I...change back to my human form! I cannot stop it! What are these things?!"  
A hawk-headed figure lifted up a sickle, which began to glow with golden light. "Amon-Ra was always god of the sun – and the sun is something vampires abhor, isn't it, blood bitch?"  
The hawk-headed figure aimed his sickle at Purgatori, and Purgatori was blasted to the floor by a flash of bright light, which burned her skin and drained her strength.  
As she attempted to recover, the serpent-headed figure stalked up behind her. "Yesss, you live – for a greater purpose." Lifting her up in its arms, the figure carried her over to the stone block. "Our master would have you learn humility!"  
The figure slammed her down onto the block, and instantly stone hands rose up out of the surface and took hold of each of her limbs.  
"Purgatori! Beloved!" Rakshasa howled, as she struggled against the grip of the jackal-headed figure.  
Purgatori herself writhed desperately in the grasp of the stone hands. "I cannot break the grip of stone?!" she cried. "Who has the power to hold me thus against my will?!"  
"I do."  
A tall, imposing figure entered the chamber. His skin was red as blood, long horns rose up from his skull, and his eyes glowed with ancient, malevolent evil.  
"You shared my bed once, my willing concubine, but that was not enough for you, was it? You sought to make yourself greater than me by drinking my blood. I cast you out then as punishment. I think that now was a mistake – a waste of your succulent flesh."  
The figure approached to stand over her, and he leered down at her.  
"I am here to correct past mistakes."  
"Lucifer?!" Purgatori howled in shock.  
The fallen archangel glanced over at Rakshasa, who had now fully returned to her human form. "Is this your current plaything?" Lucifer wondered. "Let her sleep now. I'll have uses for her later."  
Rakshasa instantly closed her eyes and slumped down in the jackal- headed figure's arms. Lucifer then returned his attention to Purgatori, and stroked her cheek with mocking tenderness.  
"This is a lie...a trick!" Purgatori exclaimed. "You were destroyed...!"  
"Energy cannot be destroyed utterly, my dear. Nor can evil. Nor can our hunger for one another ever be truly sated."  
Lucifer then lay down on top of her. "But we will try.  
Purgatori felt him tearing at her clothing, while she lay helpless, and she experienced fear such as she had not felt since her original mortal life, so many millennia ago.  
"No! No!" she screamed. "Get off me! Noooo!"  
  
Back in New York, loud music rumbled through the walls of a warehouse on the east side. Within, a crowd of young people danced manically to the hypnotic beats, and all of them were enjoying themselves thoroughly.  
Up on the stage, the dj manipulated her devices with a deft hand, mixing the cds for a sound unheard anywhere else, and she played the crowd like her own personal instrument, and they chanted her name to the beat.  
"Oblivia! Oblivia!"  
Two more people, both oriental females, entered the warehouse. They did not join the dance, but began stalking through the crowd with a purpose.  
One of them, whose features bore the unmistakable mark of the vampire, spoke to her companion. "How do they stand it, Silence – the noise, the stink, the crush of humanity?" Silence did not reply. She never does. "But this new drug – Xorcist – that invades my dominions, it is connected with this Oblivia. Wherever she shows up, it shows up. Tonight, I will learn why."  
Beside the main stage, two young party-goers handed over some money to a man, who gave them a small packet in return. "Free samples, hokay?" he speaks with a russian accent. "You try, you like, you come back see Serge for some more, yes? Is good."  
As the two youths walked away with their packet, Serge was suddenly grabbed from behind and slammed face-first into the wall. Oblivia leaned in over his shoulder and hissed into his ear, her fangs scratching at his neck.  
"You sumbitch, Serge! What I tell you about selling drugs at my gig, huh?"  
Serge looked back at her, and grinned cockily. "What you care, hah? What Serge do is so bad? Don't I look after you, baby? Watch over you, protect you, while you sleep all day? Because Serge loves you, baby."  
Oblivia threw him to the floor. "Don't hand me that crap! What?! You think maybe I'm some bimbo you can sweet-talk into letting you whatever?! I warned you before about this crap! We're done! You still around when I finish this gig, I will drain you dry!"  
As Oblivia stalked away, Serge picked himself up off the floor and muttered to her retreating back. "Is more over than you think, little vampire bitch."  
Serge turned to leave, and found a small black cat staring at him. "What you lookin' at, cat?!" he demanded.  
Frustrated by his treatment at Oblivia's hands, Serge decided to take it out on the cat. He reached for it, but it avoided his grasp and ran away. Serge ran after it. "Skin you alive!" he growled.  
Suddenly, there was a click, and he felt a steel pipe being pressed against his temple. He turned around, to see a blond woman in a leather jacket holding a machine pistol against his skull. The cat rested comfortably across her shoulder, and she stroked its fur tenderly.  
"You got a problem with my cat?" Catherine Bell, known to her enemies as Bad Kitty, asked him.  
"Problem?" Serge replied. "Is no problem! Serge eat pussy cats – and their guns!"  
Serge instantly sprouted fur, and his clothing tore as his muscles grew in size and his limbs twisted unnaturally. His face lengthened into a fang-filled snout, and he charged at her, snarling. Catherine leapt up athletically, avoiding his charge, and he became entangled in the stage curtain behind her. As she gazed at the struggling beast, she sighed wearily. Great. Another goddamn werewolf. Sometimes I think the country's nothing but werewolves!  
Serge's struggles tore down the curtain, and the werewolf stood up in front of the entire crowd. While most of the ravers stood paralyzed by fear, the oriental vampiress suddenly cried out.  
"Serge Rostov! Werewolf mafia! I know you! And now also I know who is behind drug Xorcist!"  
Serge turned and snarled her name. "Hurrrr! Jade!"  
Serge then lifted up his head and gave out a great howl. At his cry, many of those in the crowd suddenly began to convulse, their clothes shredding as their bodies began to change.  
Catherine Bell's eyes widened in fear. "This is not good!"  
Soon, Serge was surrounded by a whole crowd of werewolves, who all slavered hungrily. Serge grinned at Jade.  
"Small side effect of Xorcist. Users become werewolves – and they obey Serge. And my command – you die now!" 


	3. Lady Death: Dark Alliance, part three

The Chaos Chronicles  
Lady Death  
Dark Alliance  
Part Three: Frenzy  
  
The oriental vampiress, Jade, her katana-wielding bodyguard, Silence, and the gun-toting Bad Kitty moved to stand back-to-back with each other, as Serge and his werewolf slaves slowly surrounded them, slavering hungrily. The walls of the warehouse echoed with their growls, along with the terrified cries of those few ravers who had not turned.  
"You will find ordinary guns less than effective, I think," Jade warned her American companion.  
"Great," replied Bad Kitty. "And here I left my silver bullets at home, kimo sabe. Only reason I came here was to meet a guy and he stands me up. I hate blind dates."  
The Russian werewolf, Serge, chuckled. "Serge not mind picking you up but I am tired of dating the dead!"  
Oblivia, the dj of this illegal rave, and a vampire herself, suddenly leapt down from the stage and slammed her boot into the werewolf's muzzle. "You bastard!" she cried. "You used me...used my gigs...as an excuse to peddle your drugs! And I am not dead! I'm undead, you moron!"  
Oblivia charged at Serge but the werewolf caught her fist in his giant paw. "Selling drugs only reason Serge stay so long. Make you true dead now."  
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire separates the two combatants. They look up in the direction from which the bullets had come, to see a big man with a long goatee standing above the skylight, aiming a heavy pistol at the werewolf.  
"Serge," the newcomer growled. "I should've figured. Pull back. I'm packing hollow point silver bullets that will splatter your many hide all over this room."  
"Gallows!" Serge howled. Hiding behind gun, eh? Not man enough, not wolf enough, to take me either way?"  
Gallows squeezed the trigger, but instead of firing he tossed the gun away. "Screw that," he snarled, and dived down through the window. As he fell, shaggy fur burst out over his skin, his hands and feet became claws, and his head transformed into a fearsome wolfish muzzle. He landed on the floor directly in front of Serge and stood facing him, werewolf to werewolf.  
"Damn thing just jammed on me anyway," Gallows growled. "Prefer to settle this between us tooth and claw!"  
Gallows and Serge tore into each other, and at that signal, the entire warehouse erupted into savage battle. Serge's werewolf slaves leapt at their chosen victims, and Oblivia, Jade, Silence, and Bad Kitty fought back furiously. Oblivia fought with fang and claw, and took every opportunity to slam her heavy boots into their faces. Jade called upon her powerful sorcery to tear them apart. Silence sliced at them with her deadly katanas, and Bad Kitty filled many of the werewolves with enough lead to slow them down, despite her lack of silver.  
But the defenders were heavily outnumbered, and forced to fight wildly just to survive. Jade managed to clear an area around her with her mystic bolts, and took a moment to look around desperately for her companion. "Silence!" she cried. "I cannot see my bodyguard, Silence!"  
Bad Kitty, reloading quickly, called back over shoulder. "There's too many of them! They pulled her down and we're going next!"  
Suddenly, there is a shout from above, and a woman with inhumanly pale skin and white hair, armed with a glowing sword and a sickle on a chain, flies down through the skylight window. A red-headed vampire leaps down behind her.  
"This is the place I told you about!" the red-headed vampire known as Chastity calls to her companion. "Looks like they started the party without us!"  
"The beasts attack those I have named allies!" the white-skinned woman cries in anger. "This is not to be endured."  
The flying woman landed on the floor and, without a moment's hesitation, instantly leapt into the battle and sliced through a werewolf's head with her powerful chaos-blade, Apocalypse. "Back, hounds of Hell!" she roared. "Lady Death commands!"  
While Lady Death launched into a frenzied attack, hacking at the werewolves savagely, Chastity leapt upon the back of another and began throttling it. "Down! Heel! Bad dog!"  
With the reinforcements, the tide of battle turned and the werewolves were brutally massacred. Finally, only two remained, battling each other. Lady Death cast her golden sickle at one of them and the chain wrapped around its throat. With a savage tug, Lady Death snapped its neck.  
Lady Death then stalked up to the last of the werewolves. "You!" she snarled. "You are the last one standing! The last blood to be shed!"  
Chastity instantly leapt between them and held up her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Whoa, Lady D! Actually, this is the guy we came to meet! This is Gallows!"  
Gallows rumbled at her. "Pleased to meet you, Lady...Death, is it?"  
Lady Death stared at him for a moment, then lowered her weapons and, with a thought, caused them to disappear into thin air.  
"Hold on," Bad Kitty ran up to them. "I've met Lady Death and you're a bit...paler than her."  
"I've assumed my true form," Lady Death replied, and as she did so, Bad Kitty's pet cat leapt up into her arms. "Ah, Lucky! Taking good care of the human, are you?"  
Bad Kitty stared at her wonderingly. "Well, I guess if the cat vouches for you, you're okay."  
At that moment, the wail of sirens came from outside, distant at first but approaching rapidly.  
"Cops coming," Chastity said. "We should re-convene this meeting elsewhere."  
"Agreed," Lady Death replied. "We'll use my Sanctuary. There is much that needs explanation!"  
"Forget it!" Oblivia shook her head. "I'm not involved in this."  
"The drug Xorcist I traced here," Jade told her. "Now my bodyguard is missing. You are very involved, Oblivia."  
"This is not a request," Lady Death glared at the young vampire. "This is not a debate. You're coming, let's go."  
Gallows, having returned to his human form, took out a cigar, stuck it between his teeth, and lit it up. "Too bad Serge is dead. He might've been able to tell us a lot."  
Lady Death walked over to the corpse of the Russian werewolf, which has now reverted to a merely human corpse. Holding her hands above it, she levitates the body into the air with magic.  
"We'll take him along. Sometimes it is easier to get the dead to talk than the living. We leave now."  
  
At the top of the world, deep within the arctic desert, there was only silence. But then, with a horrid tearing sound, a rip appeared in the fabric of space. A red-skinned woman with wings, horns and fangs was cast through the rip and fell face down into the snow. She struggled to lift up her battered and violated body, while behind her, a powerful figure stared down at her.  
"Well, Purgatori, m'dear," Lucifer sneered at her, "you were less fun than I remembered. Been there, done you, I guess...We'll leave you for the rising sun. Maybe your companion...what is her name? Rakshasa? No matter. Perhaps she'll be more fun. Her I'll keep for now."  
Purgatori, though sorely beaten, still managed to hiss defiantly at him. "I will...make you crawl...before I am done!"  
"I doubt that. You are done, farewell." And with that, the rift closed and Lucifer disappeared, leaving her alone in the cold wasteland.  
Purgatori slowly struggled back to her feet, and looked to the east, where pale light could already be seen rising up over the horizon. Within her mind, a warm voice whispered to her. Yield our body to me, Purgatori! I can survive the coming sun! You cannot and we both will die!  
Purgatori, overcome with rage and frustration, snarled aloud. "No! I do not choose to yield! Live or die, I will be myself and not some pitiful shadow of myself!"  
  
On another plane of reality, within an inn that served a rather...rough...clientele, a woman with a patch over one eye, and feathered wings at her shoulders, tested her strength in an arm-wrestling contest against a large bearded warrior. Around them, several warriors, trolls and other less savoury types bet eagerly on the outcome.  
"I tire, hundling!" cried the former valkyrie, Vulnavia. "Yes! Forty successful matches and at last, I tire!"  
Suddenly, she slammed her opponent's fist down onto the table with obvious ease. "In fact, I am bored!"  
Vulnavia threw back her head and laughed with joy. "Ha! More ale! More ale, I say, and a new opponent to test my mettle!"  
A man approached at her words. Even in this place, the man was clearly out of place. He wore a leather jacket and a wide-brimmed hat, and his face was nothing but a fleshless skull. "Reckon that's me, darlin'."  
"You?" Vulnavia snickered playfully. "I'll break you in two, boney man!"  
The boney man sat down opposite her and gripped her hand. "Name's Bedlam. Don't worry it much. We ain't stayin' long enough for you t'hurt me."  
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the patrons of the inn cried out in surprise as the two of them disappeared.  
  
Back on Earth, Lady Death led Gallows and the others to the abandoned church that served as her Sanctuary. Upon entering, they found Cremator, and Brock, mystic craftsmen, awaiting them. Also there was Vandala, valkyrie and Lady Death's sister.  
They immediately began to discuss their common problems. Jade questioned Oblivia on the nature of the drug being sold at her gigs.  
"Serge was running the drugs, not me," Oblivia protested. "I don't get down with that stuff. I tossed his drug dealing ass out tonight on account of it."  
Lady Death glared at her with open suspicion. "How...convenient."  
Chastity stood up beside Oblivia. "Hey, it's okay, kid. I believe you. Us fangy types need to stick together."  
"Hey, lady, don't do me no favours," Oblivia told her. "Just because we got fangs don't make us sisters."  
"We can test her words." Lady Death held out her towards the corpse of the Russian werewolf that was laid out on the floor, and the body floated up into the air. "Speak!" she told it. "The mistress of the dead commands you! Who provided you with the drugs you sold tonight?"  
The corpse opened its mouth, while its head flopped horribly upon a broken neck. In a voice that gurgled on its own blood, the dead one spoke a single word. "Pagan."  
And then the corpse suddenly burst into flame, and within moments all that remained was ash, that floated slowly to the floor.  
"Pagan?" Bad Kitty asked aloud. "This ring a bell with anyone?"  
Lady Death clenched her fists and snarled angrily. "A former Archduke of Hell! Save that there is no more Hell! I destroyed it!"  
Vandala stepped forward. "This is what I came to tell you, sister," she interrupted. "My spies have told me that the lands the Archdukes ruled are gone as are the Archdukes themselves! Some major spell was worked but we cannot tell why!"  
"Lady D saw Pagan over at the CODA house!" Chastity commented.  
"Ties them to the new Messiah, NEOX." Gallows added. "What's their game?"  
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light in the middle of the floor, and out of the light two figures appeared. One of them was a valkyrie with an eye-patch, and the other was a man with a fleshless skull under a wide-brimmed hat. The skull-faced man introduced himself.  
"Evening, folks. Bedlam express now arriving."  
At the sight of the winged woman, Lady Death instantly leapt at her, while magically summoning her chaos-blade, Apocalypse, into her hand. "Vulnavia?!" she cried. "Traitor!"  
Vulnavia made no move to defend herself. Instead, she dropped down onto her knees and bowed her head. "I submit to your judgement, sister," she spoke in a broken voice. "I allowed myself to become a vampire and a thrall to the bitch queen, Purgatori. I have purged myself of...that love. That obsession. That curse. I would make amends, if you allowed it..."  
Lady Death glared at her, while she held her sword threateningly over her neck. Finally, she stepped back and caused Apocalypse to vanish. "Rise, Vulnavia," she told her. "You shall have that chance."  
Vulnavia stood, and her face was filled with determination. Vandala ran forward. "Sister," Vulnavia greeted her, and with a cry of joy, Vandala embraced her.  
Lady Death looked on. "I have myself learned something of running the gauntlet and returning," she murmured.  
Bedlam lifted up his arm and tapped his unadorned wrist. "Lordy!" he exclaimed. "Lookit the time! Got one more on the party list and I'm late. She may be a quarter past crispy by now." And with that, he vanished.  
  
At the arctic circle, Purgatori staggered through the cold waste, hissing her defiance as the eastern horizon rapidly grew brighter.  
Release me! Said the voice in her mind. The sun comes up.  
"No!" Purgatori howled in rage. "I defy the sun! I defy them all! I will prevail!"  
Purgatori turned around, and was greeted by a skull-faced man in a leather jacket and hat, standing calmly in front of her.  
"Y'know, Red – yer really gonna owe me for this one," he told her.  
  
Back at Sanctuary, Vandala and Vulnavia were happily caught in discussion.  
"But how did you free yourself from the vampire curse, sister?" Vandala asked her.  
"It's a long story..."  
Before Vulnavia could elaborate, Bedlam returned in a blinding flash, and with him was Purgatori, leaning weakly on his shoulder.  
"Hey, kiddies...I'm back," he told them. "And I got the goods. A li'l worse for wear and singed about the edges, maybe..."  
Upon realizing where she was, Purgatori, despite her weakness, shoved Bedlam away. "Male fool!" she cried. "You have delivered me into the hands of my enemies!  
"And how I have lusted for your death!" Lady Death roared with rage. "To me, Apocalypse!" Lady Death summoned her mystic sword and prepared to charge at the winged vampire.  
"No!" Gallows called out. "She was part of my vision! We'll need her if we're going to defeat whatever is behind all this!"  
Jade stepped forward. "I have no love for the blood red bitch but I will separate them for you." The oriental vampire cast a spell, and a wave of emerald fire surged up between Lady Death and Purgatori, preventing them from reaching each other.  
"In my house you would use sorcery against me, bitch?!" Lady Death snarled.  
Purgatori turned away from the pale demi-goddess, and stalked towards the oriental vampire. "I will have blood and if it is not the albino then it will be yours!"  
"Come if you dare," Jade replied calmly, "for we have our own score to settle! You are the one who conferred the vampire's kiss upon me and made me as I am."  
"Hold, all of you!" Cremator's bellow caused everyone within the church to stare at him in surprise. "Mistress," he addressed Lady Death, "forgive me, but you must see this! All of you must! The windows mystically pierce time and space – look at what they show!"  
All of them stare in horror at the mystical windows behind Cremator, windows that were enchanted to show important events throughout the cosmos. In one window, a green-skinned figure with horns and a silken veil over his face floated in the sky over an enormous steel bridge, and called upon powerful sorcery, summoning titanic reptilian beasts out of the ocean to attack the bridge, and everyone upon it.  
"Behold where Séance, Hell's master of magic, attacks with water dragons," Cremator cried.  
A spectral figure, appearing as a black-skinned detective, suddenly materialized beside him. "On Earth we call the place San Francisco!" spoke the ghost of Virgil Solomon.  
In the second window, a monstrous centaur-like beast, a creature with the lower body of a nightmarish steed and the upper body of a man, armoured for battle, slaughtered dozens of people in a packed stadium.  
"Hell's Archduke of War, Asteroth strikes directly against humans." Cremator continued.  
"Locally, we know the place as Times Square!" Virgil added.  
In the third and final window, a capering imp dressed up in like a medieval court jester, emblazoned with inverted crucifixes, played a sonorous dirge on a set of wooden pipes. All around the imp, huge figures that appeared to be composed of nothing but fire, set upon all the tower blocks around, slowly turning the city into an inferno.  
"And Pagan, Hell's Jester, uses the Pipes of Pan to lure Flame Giants to destroy the heart of another city!" Cremator described the scene.  
"There's definitely a hot time going down in Chicago tonight!" Virgil identified the place. "And it is going on right now!"  
Lady Death stared at the scenes in confusion. "What madness has possessed them?! What do they hope to gain?! What is their plan?!"  
"Not their plan!" Purgatori snarled. "Lucifer has returned!"  
Lady Death turned around, and stared at her in contempt. "Nonsense. I destroyed Lucifer!"  
"Then you did a poor job of it!" Purgatori cried. "He has returned! He is real! I was violated by him tonight!"  
"To my mind, t'was no more than you deserved!" Vulnavia shouted at her. "How many have you raped with your vampire's kiss!"  
Vandala barely managed to restrain Purgatori from tearing Vulnavia's throat out.  
"If Lucifer lives," Lady Death turned away from the argument, "then his plan must fail, whatever it is. We must stop the Archdukes. I will take Asteroth."  
"This Séance invokes the water dragons who should be mine to command," Jade spoke up. "I will stop him.  
"Then that fool Pagan will fall to me and my sister!" Vulnavia declared. "By my blood and my life, I swear it!"  
"I care nothing for all this!" Purgatori told them. My lover, Rakshasa, was taken by Lucifer and I will have her back!"  
"My bodyguard and companion, Silence, is also missing," Jade said, thoughtfully. "I owe a debt to her."  
Gallows held up a hand. "Look, maybe the rest of us can infiltrate that CODA house Chastity was at before, find out the connection between Neox and Lucifer, find out what happened to your two...friends."  
Jade nodded in agreement, then looked at Purgatori. "In truth, I could use your help. I am a sorceress but Séance is a Lord of Hell."  
"Alright," Purgatori relented. "I will aid you. But find my Rakshasa!"  
With the debate settled, Lady Death turned to the windows and held out her hands. "I add my power to the windows..."  
At her words, the shimmering visions became clear and solid.  
"...and they become portals to take us to our foes! Quickly now! Let nothing but death stop you!"  
Lady Death charged forward, and dived through the middle window, through the portal to the other side. Cremator, Guardian of Hell, immediately dived through after her. Jade ran through the window to the left, and was quickly followed by Purgatori. Vandala and Vulnavia both leapt through the right-side window together.  
As the six of them disappeared, Bedlam stuck a cigarette between his lipless teeth and lit it up. "Well, you got your Dark Alliance, Gallows, ol' buddy, so why so hangdog?"  
Gallows, with a worried expression on his face, replied. "I don't know. I have this bad feeling like somehow we're a step behind whatever is going down."  
  
Elsewhere, a powerful figure with blood-red skin and fearsome horns sweeping up from his temples, reclined on a bed of skulls, while the demonic seductresses Demonica and Diabolica licked and caressed his massive body. In the air before them, a vision hovered within a ring of fire – a vision of Gallows.  
"You flatter yourself, Morgan Gallows," Lucifer laughed sadistically. "You're not ever that close!" 


	4. Lady Death: Dark Alliance, part four

The Chaos Chronicles  
  
It was after part three that Chaos folded. From this point on, the story is mostly my own, based on hints Chaos Comics gave out about what was to happen next.  
  
Lady Death  
Dark Alliance  
Part Four: Onslaught  
  
The arena at Times Square in New York City had seen many great battles. From Mike Tyson and Muhammed Ali, to the staged conflicts of the costumed wrestlers, mighty warriors had come from all over the world to prove their skills against each other.  
But nothing could have prepared anybody for what happened in the arena that night.  
A heavyweight battle between two boxing champions had been arranged, to determine who would be the champion of the world, and the arena had been packed out. Several lesser fights had already been fought, to whet the crowd's appetite, and they chanted eagerly for the main event. The two boxing masters made their way to the ring, and the crowd roared with bloodlust.  
Only to be drowned out by a deafening howl from the back of the crowd.  
At the back of the crowd, a large man began to glow, his body surrounded flames. He began to change, his bones twisting, his muscles warping, and he grew even larger. He fell onto all fours, and his limbs twisted into hooves. A spiked tail burst out of his lower spine. His upper body extended, and a new set of arms sprouted from his shoulders, and a pair of spiked horns grew up out his head. His shredded clothes burst into the flame, and were replaced by steel armour, viciously spiked and painted blood-red. Over his head he wore a steel helm, through which only his blazing eyes could be seen.  
The demonic centaur glared out over the crowd, all of whom were paralyzed with terror. With a roar, the beast lashed out with the spikes protruding from his wrists, gutting five people in a single sweep.  
"Time to die, humans!"  
The beast trampled through the crowd, crushing many with his hooves. He picked people up and killed them with his bare hands. In terror, the crowd attempted to flee for the exits.  
The centaur glared at them, and blazing energy shot out from his eyes, incinerating everyone he looked at. He cantered from one end of the stadium to another, massacring everyone he could reach with his bare hands, trampling hooves and spiked tail, and everyone who attempted to escape was cut down by his blazing eye beams. The people screamed as they died, and the beast laughed with sadistic pleasure.  
"Is there no one who will fight me? Who will challenge Asteroth?"  
Suddenly, there was a crack in the air above the arena, and a rift appeared in empty space. Through that rift flew a pale-skinned woman, armed with a glowing sword and a golden sickle. Behind her, a large man with burning hands also leapt through the rift, landing on the boxing ring below. The woman caught sight of Asteroth, dripping blood and holding the dismembered of a woman in his massive hands.  
"Asteroth! You gutless worm!" she roared with rage. "Where is your vaunted honour in slaughtering helpless humans?! Fight me, you coward!"  
Asteroth turned towards her. "Ah, Lady Death. About time, you got here, wench!" he snarled, and his eye beams lanced out at her. She held her mystic blade, Apocalypse, in front of her and the beams bounced off, crashing into the roof above. Heavy masonry fell down from the broken ceiling, crushing and killing several more of the crowd.  
Lady Death snapped the golden sickle, known as Scynister, forward and at her mental command a golden chain extended between the blade and the hilt. The blade whipped towards Asteroth and the chain wrapped around his neck. Asteroth took hold of the chain and, with a single tug, wrenched Lady Death towards him and clubbed her across the jaw with a tremendous blow. Lady Death was sent flying through the air and landed hard in the centre of the boxing ring.  
"I am not as I was, bitch!" Asteroth roared as he cantered down the aisle. "I am more powerful now than ever!"  
The large man, Cremator, helped Lady Death struggle back to her feet, while Asteroth leapt into the ring. He trotted towards her, his fists blazing with hellfire.  
"This time," he told her, "you will die screaming!"  
  
The Golden Gate Bridge, regarded as one of the world's modern structural wonders, was perhaps the most treasured landmark of San Francisco. Thousands of people passed over it every day, and thousands more every night.  
But tonight, the traffic had ground to a halt. Dozens of vehicles lay strewn across the bridge, and hundreds of bodies lay scattered among them. But it was no traffic accident, no drunken driver, that had caused this carnage.  
The waters beneath the bridge churned wildly, and from out of a tremendous whirlpool, a massive reptilian beast surged upwards, it's titanic neck and gargantuan jaws rearing up alongside the bridge. The beast shimmered, and those still alive on the bridge could see the moonlight glinting through its body. It appeared to be composed of nothing but water.  
The beast thrust its head down at the bridge, scooping up a pair of trucks in its jaws and shaking them wildly, while a second watery beast reared up on the other side. The first beast threw the trucks back down onto the bridge, causing an explosion that killed a score of people, while the second beast breathed a great cloud of steam on the bridge. Everyone caught within the cloud was boiled to death.  
Hovering in the air high above the bridge was a green skinned man with horns and a silken veil over his face. He gestured, shouted out a powerful incantation, and a third liquid beast rose up out of the waters to attack the bridge and everyone on it.  
Suddenly, the hovering man was distracted from his attack as he heard a rip in the air behind him. He turned to see a glowing rift appear in the air, and through the rift flew a woman with oriental features, and the fangs of a vampire.  
"The water dragons are mine to command, Séance!" the Chinese vampire told him. "Release them to me, or suffer the consequences."  
Séance gazed calmly back at her. "I am afraid I cannot do that, mistress Jade. This bridge must fall, and I still have use for the dragons."  
Jade gestured at him, and green mist flowed out of her hands. The mist grew larger, and coalesced into the form of a massive emerald dragon. At her command, the emerald dragon flew at Séance, but then one of the water dragons turned away from the bridge and snapped its jaws over the smaller beast, crushing it between its fangs.  
The other two dragons beside the bridge dropped back into the water, only to rear up beside their companion, and the three water dragons surrounded Chinese vampire threateningly.  
"Your sorcery is powerful," Séance told her, "but I am a Lord of Hell. You cannot defeat me alone."  
"I am not alone," Jade replied.  
Suddenly, a second woman dived through the glowing rift. This woman had skin that was red as blood, horns on her head, and flew with great bat- like wings. She also bore the fangs of a vampire.  
The second vampire weaved between the three massive dragons and flew directly at Séance, crashing into him. As they both flew backwards, the vampire pinned his arms against his side and sank her fangs into his throat.  
Instantly, she released him and pulled away, hacking and gagging. "Your blood is acid," she cried, "poison!"  
"Indeed, Purgatori," Séance told her. "I am not unprepared for this confrontation."  
Séance gestured, and threw a bolt of green fire at Purgatori, while the water dragons snapped at Jade.  
  
In every city, there was a part of town that never slept, that was busier at night than ever was during the day. A place of parties, dancing, and having fun. Chicago had many such places, and on one such street, a street lined with nightclubs and bars and semi-legal brothels, it was busier than ever, and packed with people.  
But these people were not having fun. They were too busy dying.  
At one end of the street, giant figures marched along. The giants were at least forty feet tall, and they appeared to be composed entirely of fire. They cast gouts of flame from their hands at the buildings on both sides of the street, turning each one into a blazing inferno. The people attempted to flee from the giants, but there were too many of them, and many people were killed in the crush.  
The giants reached the back of the crowd, and they swept their arms through the line, incinerating scores of people.  
At the feet of the flame giants, there was a capering imp in the attire of a medieval court jester, embroidered with inverted crucifixes. The imp held a set of wooden pipes to his mouth, and played a wild tune. As the shrill notes mingled with the screams of the dying, more giants strode out of the flames in the street behind.  
In the sky above the burning street, a rift appeared in the empty air. Two winged women flew through the rift, and gazed down in horror at the seemingly pointless slaughter.  
One of the women, who bore bright golden hair, spoke. "This is awful, Vulnavia! Whatever his purpose is summoning the flame giants, Pagan has to be stopped!"  
The other woman, whose hair was chestnut brown and who wore a patch over one eye, replied. "Don't worry, Vandala, I will kill Pagan and give you his lungs as a gift."  
"Kill him quickly!" Vandala replied. "I will try to get these people to safety."  
With a nod, Vulnavia flew down towards the imp, while Vandala flew down towards the crowd ahead.  
Vandala hovered before the terrified crowd, and called upon her own power, causing her body to glow with a golden light, and when she spoke, it was with a gentle, soothing tone.  
"Please, do not panic. Run this way, but you must help each other. Your fear is causing you to slow each other down, hindering your escape. Come this way, and help those who cannot run as fast as you."  
Vandala waved to the street behind, and the people ran along beneath her. But her voice caused the fear and terror to recede somewhat, and many of those in the crowd discovered their own courage. Children were gathered up by the adults, and the elderly were helped along by the young, and with Vandala's guidance, the pace of the crowd increased, leaving the flame giants behind.  
Vulnavia shot down towards Pagan, dodging between the titanic forms of the giants, and slammed into him. They both were sent hurtling down the street, and the pipes were sent flying from Pagan's hands.  
"The Pipes of Pan won't save you now, imp!" Vulnavia snarled as she kneeled on top of his stomach. She drew a long dagger and slammed it down into his chest.  
"Ouch," Pagan snickered, leering up at her with not a single flicker of pain. "C'mon, sweetie. I've been sliced and diced more times than I can count. Surely you can do better than that?"  
Vulnavia stood up, keeping one boot on Pagan's stomach, and drew her sword. "A lot better, runt," she sneered. Focused on Pagan, she did not see the flame giant stalking up behind her.  
"Sister!" Vandala screamed in warning, but it was too late.  
The flame giant swept down with a massive blazing fist, and Vulnavia was sent flying through the air, her entire body coated in flames, and she screamed in agony.  
"Nooooooo!" Vandala howled in fury. Leaving the crowd of terrified people behind, Vandala flew through the air as fast as she could towards Pagan, summoning a golden sword into her hands.  
"You bastard!" Vandala screamed. "I'll kill you!"  
"That's it, gorgeous," Pagan cackled, while the flame giants stood protectively around him. "Come get some."  
  
Meanwhile, within a homeless shelter in a quiet corner of New York City, a teenage girl crept furtively towards the exit. She opened the door, and gestured to those waiting in the night outside.  
"It's all clear," she whispered. "Come inside, quickly."  
Three young women entered the shelter, followed by a big man with a goatee, and a skull-faced figure wearing a hat and cowboy boots.  
"Thanks, Sarah," said the red-haired woman. "Is everybody asleep?"  
"No they're not, Chastity," Sarah replied. "A lot of the older lodgers have been invited to a special assembly in the back. But those who are new here, like me, haven't been invited."  
"Do you know what this assembly is about?" asked the goateed man.  
"I don't know, Mr. Gallows. It's only just started."  
"Then I think we should check it out," Gallows told her. "Lead the way."  
Sarah quietly guided the five of them towards the back of the shelter. The last room was empty, but a final doorway stood open, with stairs leading down. From the bottom of the stairs, eerie chanting could be heard.  
Gallows put his hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Thanks kid. Now get out of here. Make your way to that church and wait for us there."  
Sarah shook his hand off. "No. I'm coming with you."  
"Things could get nasty down there, Sarah," Chastity warned her.  
"I think I've proved I can take care of myself," Sarah replied. "I'm not going."  
"Would joo get movin' already?" said one of the other women, a half- spanish girl who didn't look much older than Sarah.  
"Alright. But be careful." Gallows told Sarah, then turned and led the way down the stairs. At the bottom was a doorway, and they peered round the corner into a large room which was packed with people, most of whom were adolescents. On a podium at the front of the room, a young man was preaching to the crowd.  
"Neox." Gallows growled, recognising the preacher.  
"The old gods have failed," Neox told the crowd, his voice powerful and persuasive. "The old ways have failed. It is time for a new way, and a new order. I speak directly to the Lord, and he has shown me the way. A dark time is coming, when the old gods and the older will be swept away in a tide of blood. They will fight among themselves, and mankind will be caught in their conflict. They care nothing for humanity, their battles would destroy us all. But my Lord will keep us safe in his fold. And when the old gods have destroyed themselves, He will be there to inherit the Earth, and we will inherit it with Him."  
"Amen," the assembly droned.  
"Let's get 'im," said the Spanish girl.  
"No, Oblivia," Gallows told her. "We don't know what we're up against."  
"Each day, the Word of the Lord spreads farther," Neox continued his preaching, "and our numbers grow ever greater. Most who hear my words instantly recognise the truth, and eagerly join our cause. But there are some whose minds are caught too deeply within the lies of the old gods, and who remain deaf to the Message. But my Lord is merciful, and his love is without limit. He will not give up on these lost souls, and has commanded me to do whatever I must to show them the Light of Truth!"  
Neox stepped aside, to reveal two women bound by ropes to the wall behind him. One of them had oriental features, while the other had raven- black hair. Neither of them appeared to have been harmed, and they glared at Neox with defiance.  
"I recognise that Asian one," said the third woman, who had blonde hair and carried a pair of machine-pistols. A black cat rested on her shoulder. "It's Silence!"  
"And the other one must be Rakshasa," Gallows confirmed. "She matches Purgatori's description of her."  
Neox took out a strange amulet from beneath his shirt. The amulet was forged in a strange geometric shape, painful and confusing to the eye, which was unlike any holy amulet ever seen before. The amulet began to glow in Neox's hands, and he held it up before Rakshasa's eyes.  
"Do you accept the Word of the Lord, renouncing all other gods, and all the old ways?" he asked her.  
Rakshasa spat in his face.  
Neox turned back to the crowd. "The old lies have dug themselves deeply into her mind. I cannot free her. Only the Lord himself can free her. I speak directly to Him, and He hears me. He will come at my call. Lord, hear me!" Neox raised the amulet above his head, and it began to glow brighter. "These unbelievers refuse to see the truth of You! Come down and show them Your glory! Come, my Lord! Come forth and show us the Truth!"  
"What are we going to do?" Chastity hissed. "We can't leave them there!"  
"This whole thing stinks of a trap!" Gallows growled.  
"We got no choice, pal," said the skull-faced man. "If we don't rescue those two ladies, Jade and Purgatori will never fight with us again, and the whole dark alliance will fall apart!"  
"Besides, I never leave people behind!" said the blonde-haired woman.  
"Okay," Gallows growled. "On my signal, we go in. Strike hard. Strike fast. Oblivia, Chastity, you're with me. Bedlam, Bad Kitty, shoot him! Sarah, use that power of yours to kill him if you can. Take no chances, any of you. Do not underestimate our enemy!"  
The others nodded grimly. Within the chamber, the light of the amulet was almost blinding. Behind him, the wall on which Silence and Rakshasa were bound began to twist and warp strangely.  
"Ready?" Gallows rumbled. "Now!"  
Gallows charged through the doorway, and his body changed as he did so, sprouting fur, growing larger, his face extending into a fanged muzzle. Behind the werewolf, Oblivia and Chastity also charged into the room, their teeth lengthening into vampiric fangs. The skull-faced man known as Bedlam and the blonde-haired woman known as Bad Kitty drew their pistols, stepped out from either side of the doorway, and fired at Neox. Sarah kneeled down between them, summoned her own mystical power, and threw a bolt of dark energy at the preacher.  
"Neox!" Gallows roared, as he charged through the crowd. "Stop what you're doing or die!"  
The bullets and dark energy crashed into the light around Neox and were absorbed harmlessly. Gallows and the two vampires stopped just outside the light and circled warily around it. Neox laughed at them.  
"I don't think so, Morgan. I have found my faith at last. You cannot stop me now."  
"You know me, preacher?" Gallows growled.  
"Of course," Neox replied. "We're old friends, you and I."  
Neox's features changed subtly, his face becoming different, becoming a face that Morgan Gallows recognised.  
"Saviour?!" Gallows hissed.  
"Once I was the Faithless One," Saviour replied, "but I am faithless no more. I speak with the only god worth worshipping, and he demands sacrifice!"  
The audience suddenly ran at them and attempted to overpower them. Chastity and Oblivia fought back desperately, using their vampiric strength to hold them off while trying not to hurt them. Bedlam and Bad Kitty also charged into the fight, while Gallows and the Saviour continued to stare at each other.  
"He comes, Gallows!" Saviour spoke. "My Lord comes!"  
The back wall warped and disappeared, opening to another place entirely. Rakshasa and Silence fell back and disappeared into this other place. From out of this place a powerful figure stepped forward, a figure with blood red skin, sweeping horns and eyes that blazed with power.  
"Bedlam! Get us out of here!" Gallows cried.  
"Ah caint," Bedlam shouted back, as he desperately fought off two burly runaways. "For some reason, my powers ain't working."  
The figure stepped down from the podium and glared around the room. The Saviour's audience instantly stopped their fighting and kneeled before the figure. The Saviour raised up his glowing amulet. "Lucifer!" he cried out in worship. "Lord of Lies!"  
Everyone in the room was paralyzed with awe and terror.  
Everyone except Oblivia.  
The Spanish vampire ran forward. "Joo ain't so tough!" she cried. "I've had bigger an' meaner 'n' you!"  
"Oblivia! No!" Gallows cried.  
Oblivia leapt at Lucifer, her fingers reaching for his throat. Lucifer caught her in mid-leap. She kicked out futilely at his massive arm, and he laughed at her.  
"One can never have too many sacrifices. Time to die, little vampire!"  
Gallows howled with rage and leapt forward, his fury so great as to surprise even the Fallen One. Lucifer fell back, releasing his grip on Oblivia, while Gallows tore savagely at his crimson flesh. Wherever his claws dug in, fiery blood flowed.  
"You have...more power than I...expected, Gallows," Lucifer snarled, as he pulled the werewolf away by the scruff of his neck. "With time, you might have actually become a threat to me. But time is something you no longer have."  
With savage strength, Lucifer sank his claws into Gallows chest, and tore out his heart.  
"Dad!" Oblivia cried in horror.  
Lucifer dropped the corpse of the werewolf to the floor, and in death Gallows reverted back to his human shape. With a laugh, Lucifer stalked towards Oblivia. Bedlam and Bad Kitty emptied their guns at Lucifer, but the bullets melted as they touched his flesh.  
"Don't worry, my dear." Lucifer said to Oblivia, as she backed away fearfully. "You will soon be joining your father in death, and both your souls will be mine!"  
"No!" Sarah cried from the back of the room. "Keep away from my friends!"  
Sarah's entire body began to glow with black energy, and she threw a tremendous stream of it at Lucifer. The Lord of Lies threw up a shield of hellfire in front of him, and the black energy collided with it. Lucifer grunted, and stepped back.  
"What kind of power...?"  
Sarah continued to hurl her power at Lucifer, and Lucifer continued to block it with his own. But the strain of the effort was visible on his face, and he snarled with rage.  
"You can't keep this up forever, girl!" he roared.  
"My powers are back!" Bedlam cried. "People, we are leaving!"  
Bedlam held up his right hand, and with a bright flash of light, he and his companions all disappeared from the room. Even Gallows' corpse disappeared.  
As Sarah disappeared with the rest of them, her attack ceased and Lucifer dropped his shield.  
"Come," Lucifer turned to the Saviour. "Let us prepare for the endgame."  
Lucifer turned and walked back through the portal, and the Saviour followed after him. As they left, a wave of fire surged out from the portal, incinerating everyone in the room, and transforming the entire shelter into an inferno. 


	5. Lady Death: Dark Alliance, part five

The Chaos Chronicles  
Lady Death  
Dark Alliance  
Part Five: Defeat  
  
The large, heavily scarred man, bleeding from a dozen wounds, staggered through the shimmering portal into the abandoned church known as Sanctuary. A tall, pale-skinned woman leaned wearily on his shoulders, barely able to hold on to her glowing sword, as her body was sorely bruised and beaten.  
"Thank you, Cremator," the woman murmured. "You have always been my loyal guardian."  
"'Tis my honour, Lady Death," he replied.  
Lady Death looked up, and saw that they were not alone. Four other women and a skull-faced man were also there. On the floor of the church was the corpse of a large man, and one of the women was kneeled beside the body, weeping softly. The other four looked at Lady Death as she entered, and the expressions on their faces spoke of defeat.  
"What happened?" Lady Death asked.  
The skull-faced man walked over to her. "It was a trap, pale-face. Neox was there, and he was waitin' for us."  
"Surely you must have recognised the trap, Bedlam?" Lady Death asked him.  
"Yup," Bedlam replied. "But Rakshasa and Silence were also both there as bait. We had no choice but to attack. When we did, Neox summoned the big guy himself, Lucifer, and that's when things went real bad real quick. It was Lucifer who killed Gallows, he died saving Oblivia's life."  
"How did the rest of you survive?"  
"We almost didn't. My powers were being jammed, and we didn't stand a chance against ol' hornhead. It was Sarah who saved us. That girl has power the likes of which even I have never seen before. Lucifer was forced to focus all his power on her, and that must have been what allowed me to teleport them all back outta there."  
"I see." Before Lady Death could question him further, one of the portals behind her shimmered, and a red-skinned woman with wings and horns flew into the church. An oriental vampire, bloodied and torn, was being held in the winged vampire's arms.  
Dropping the other vampire to the floor, the winged vampire immediately landed and ran towards Bedlam.  
"Did you find my Rakshasa?" she asked, almost desperately.  
"Ah'm afraid not, Purgatori. We found her, as well as Silence, but Lucifer took them away again. There was nothing we could do."  
"Damn!" Purgatori hissed.  
Once more, one of the portals in the Sanctuary shimmered, and a pair of winged women flew into the church. Both women were badly burned, and their wings were charred and blackened. The two of them crashed to the floor in pain and exhaustion.  
Lady Death ran over to the two of them and knelt down beside one of them, who only had a few strands of golden hair left on her head.  
"By the Abyss, Vandala!" Lady Death exclaimed. "Was the battle so terrible?"  
"It was...worse." Vandala choked out through cracked lips. "Vulnavia got the Pipes of Pan away from Pagan, but he was still somehow able to control the flame giants. There were too many of them to fight, they almost overwhelmed us. We tried...cough...to kill Pagan, but our weapons had no effect. He healed every wound instantly. Even my light failed to affect his darkness. We would...have died. But Pagan disappeared suddenly, taking the flame giants with him, leaving us to return here. I am sorry, sister, but we failed."  
"Hush, sister," Lady Death told her. "There is no shame in fighting against overwhelming odds."  
"How did your fight go, Jade?" Bedlam turned to the oriental vampire, as she slowly picked herself up off the floor.  
"Not much better, I'm afraid," Jade replied. "Séance's control over the water dragons was total. None of my dispelling magics had any effect. Purgatori's blood alchemy was equally useless. It was all we could do just to survive. But then, as the battle reached its peak, séance just disappeared, leaving the water dragons to collapse back into the water."  
"The Lords of Hell are more powerful than ever!" Lady Death growled, clenching her fists in anger. "I have fought and defeated Asteroth several times before, yet this time he fought both me and Cremator to a standstill! But then, he also disappeared, just as the battle was getting interesting. Lucifer must have empowered them, somehow, given them all a portion of his own power."  
"I see you didn't have much more success," Jade said to Bedlam, as she nodded at the body of Morgan Gallows.  
"No. We didn't," Bedlam replied sadly.  
"Then this 'alliance' is over," Purgatori hissed. "I am going to find my Rakshasa, even if I have to tear this whole planet apart!"  
"Now hold on, Red," Bedlam urged her. "This isn't over yet. I think I know a way to track your missing girls. We can still find them."  
"Then let's go!" Purgatori growled.  
"Not yet," Lady Death told her. "We need to recover, first. Between the three of us we have enough magic to heal our injuries, so let's do that before leaping into battle again."  
"Chastity, I noticed an old tv and vcr in the back," Bedlam said to one of the other women, one who had red hair. "Could you bring it out here, please?"  
Chastity nodded and ran off. "What do you want that for?" Lady Death asked him.  
Bedlam took out a video tape from the inside pocket of his jacket. "Gallows had visions. He had an idea somethin' bad might happen, and he left me this tape, just in case."  
Chastity soon returned, wheeling a small desk with a portable television and a video recorder upon it. Bedlam moved the television to the front of the church and plugged it in. He then inserted the tape, switched on the television, and they all gathered round to watch. Even Oblivia looked up, from where she knelt by Gallows corpse.  
After a few moments, Gallows face appeared on the screen, as strong and as confident as when he was alive.  
"If you're watching this, then I'm dead, just as I saw in my vision. This means that I now have no choice but to tell you everything. Each one of you was a part of my vision. Lady Death, Purgatori, Jade, Bedlam, Chastity, Bad Kitty, Cremator, Vandala, Vulnavia, Oblivia, Sarah Wilson, even Silence and Rakshasa, you are all needed if we are to defeat this apocalypse. You must all fight together, or separately you will fall! I don't know what the enemy's plan is, or exactly how to stop it, but I do know that fighting them head on will not be enough. Only by figuring out their plan will you stop them. Fighting is what they expect you to do. If you're to beat them, you must find another way."  
"Well, that's helpful," Jade commented.  
"Oblivia, the rest of this message is for you, alone."  
Bedlam reached over and stopped the tape. Lady Death turned to the young vampire. "What could he have to say to you that does not concern the rest of us?"  
Oblivia stared back at her. "He's my dad."  
"Oh." Lady Death turned away.  
"Come on, let's give the girl some space," Bedlam said. "We'll continue our discussion outside." Bedlam led the way out of the Sanctuary, and the others followed him out. Chastity was the last to leave, and before she did she put her hand on Oblivia's shoulder.  
"I'm sorry, kid," Chastity told her. "He was my friend, as well as your dad. I'll miss him too."  
When she was at last left alone in the church, Oblivia restarted the tape, bringing her father's face back onto the screen.  
"I'm sorry we didn't spend more time together, Oblivia, and I'm sorry I was never there for you. There's still a lot you need to learn about yourself, about your identity and your destiny. I want you to know that I'm real proud of you. You're as tough as you are beautiful, much like your mother. It's time I told you about her, about Serena."  
Oblivia sat back to listen, and fresh tears began to flow from her eyes.  
  
Outside, Jade held her hands over Vulnavia's body, enveloping her in a green glow. When the glow faded, the severe burns over her body disappeared, leaving her skin unmarred. Only the emptiness of her left eye remained.  
"I cannot heal that injury," Jade told her.  
"Don't worry, nobody could," Vulnavia replied.  
The rest of the alliance stood around, having been healed of their injuries by Jade's sorcery. Suddenly, Chastity, who had wandered off somewhere, came running back.  
"Everybody, come quick!" she cried. "You have got to see this!"  
Chastity ran back down the street, and the others followed after her. The red-haired vampire stopped outside the window of an electrical store, where a television set on display had been left on all night. They all gathered round to watch, and stared in horror at the screen.  
On the television was a news report, which came from San Francisco. A camera crew hovered in a helicopter over the Golden Gate Bridge, and broadcast the battle between Jade, Purgatori, Séance and the water dragons. The camera recorded in horrific detail the slaughter on the bridge, as the dragons caused untold havoc to countless vehicles and people. There was a close-up view of Séance and Purgatori, as the vampire sank her fangs into his throat, only to choke on his acidic blood. There was static on the screen as Jade cast her sorcery at Séance, only to be blocked by counter- spells. And the cameras recorded the scene when Purgatori transformed scores of innocent people on the bridge into blood warriors, to be sent into battle against Séance, only to be massacred by the dragons.  
The news then switched to Chicago, where flaming giants burned down an entire street. Vandala and Vulnavia flew down and attacked Pagan, who was controlling the giants with the Pipes of Pan, and though the women seemed at first to be trying to protect the people on the street, they soon became caught up in a berserker fury, and they both concentrated on attacking Pagan, leaving the giants to incinerate the crowd.  
Finally, there was a report from Times Square, where a crowd had gathered to watch a heavyweight boxing contest, only to be massacred by the demon centaur Asteroth. Lady Death appeared and attacked him, and the battle left no room for innocent survivors.  
"Oh my god!" the blonde-haired woman known as Bad Kitty exclaimed.  
"I fail to see the point of this!" Purgatori said.  
"You wouldn't," Chastity hissed. "This will be all over the news, soon. There's no way to cover this up. We're out in the open, now. We're exposed. The whole world now knows about the supernatural. There's no hiding anymore. Vampires, werewolves, witches, all of us will now be hunted wherever we go. We've just seen the beginning of a new Inquisition!"  
The television then switched to a live broadcast of Neox, who was speaking directly to the viewers.  
"I want to hear this," Chastity said, and she punched her fist through the glass window and turned up the volume.  
"Now you know the truth," Neox preached. "The old gods have revealed themselves. They fight among themselves with no regard for the mortals that once worshipped them. Their battles will kill thousands, millions, and they do not care. They are arrogant and prideful, and they value our lives not at all. Only my Lord truly loves us, and he will protect us. We must destroy these false gods wherever they may be found. My Lord will protect you, and give you the strength to slay them. My Lord speaks directly to me. He tells me where they hide. Even now, some of them cower in an abandoned church, that they call Sanctuary, on 53rd and 4th street in New York's east side. Find these false gods! Slay them! My Lord will protect you! Do not be afraid!"  
"Great," Lady Death closed her eyes. "Just great."  
A van came speeding down the street and stopped just outside the church. Several people climbed out; one carried a microphone and another held a recording camera over his shoulder. They all focused on the church, they did not notice Lady Death or her companions up the street.  
"We'd better get out of here," Chastity suggested.  
"I'm not afraid of humans," Purgatori sneered.  
"You'd better be," Chastity told her. "Even you can't fight the entire U.S. Army."  
"I have my blood alchemy." Purgatori responded.  
"They have napalm!" Chastity answered back.  
Bedlam held up his hand, and with a bright flash of light they all suddenly found themselves somewhere else. It was the hall of an enormous cathedral, with the walls decorated with gargoyles and demons and spectral reapers.  
"Winterhaven!" Lady Death recognised her old home.  
"I'll be right back," Bedlam told them, and disappeared.  
  
Oblivia looked up as Bedlam appeared beside her in a flash. The television screen was blank, as the tape had finished.  
"Come on, we're leaving," Bedlam told her, as he held out his hand. Oblivia, beginning to hear a crowd gathering outside the church, nodded and took his hand.  
  
Bedlam and Oblivia appeared in Winterhaven, to find the others still waiting for them.  
"Why'd you bring us here?" Lady Death demanded to know.  
"It was the only place I could think of that the president ain't likely to nuke anytime soon," Bedlam replied. "Now I think I know a way to find Silence and Rakshasa. I have a way with portals and rifts, and part of my power lets me track the direction of a portal, no matter who opens it. If we return to that CODA house, I should be able to reopen the portal through which Lucifer came, and through which the two girls fell. It's risky, but it's the only lead we have. Is everybody coming?"  
"Take me there!" Purgatori snarled.  
"Lucifer will die, forever this time," Lady Death agreed, Cremator and the green-skinned troll, Brock, beside her.  
"Count me in," Chastity spoke up.  
"I will rescue Silence, and kill anyone who has harmed her," said Jade.  
"My sister and I are with you," said Vandala, standing beside Vulnavia.  
"I guess I'm coming too," Bad Kitty reloaded her guns as she spoke.  
"I will see an end to this!" hissed Sarah.  
"Try and stop me," growled Oblivia, her eyes filled with determination.  
The dark alliance gathered around Bedlam, as he held up his hand, marked with the Chaos Crest, and teleported them back to Earth. They appeared outside the gutted wreckage of the shelter, of which only blackened timbers remained. All the bodies of those who had died within had been taken away. The alliance dug through the wreckage until they found the stairs leading below. They entered the cellar, which was only a charred and empty ruin now.  
Standing before the wall, Bedlam held up his hand and cast out his power, reopening the portal that had been opened there just a few hours ago. The wall folds in on itself, opening to another place.  
One by one, they stepped through.  
On the other side, they appeared upon a large stage. Gathered before the stage was a crowd of thousands of people, and speaking to them was Neox. The crowd screamed as one as the dark alliance appeared behind him.  
"Dammit!" Bedlam said upon realising where they were. "Talk about falling for the same trick twice!"  
Neox slowly turned around, and as he did so, his features shifted subtly.  
"I know you," Purgatori gasped. "Saviour, you served me once, as we tried to kill...something!" Purgatori blinked in confusion, as she found her memory to be strangely blank.  
"I do not fear you!" The Saviour cried. "I do not fear any of you, for my Lord is with me!"  
"I will teach you fear!" Lady Death summoned Apocalypse and Scynister into her hands, but Bedlam held her back. "It's a trap, Lady!"  
The Saviour held out his hands, and two robed figures walked towards him. They kneeled down beside him, and threw back their hoods, revealing their faces.  
"Rakshasa!" Purgatori cried.  
"Silence!" Jade cried at the same time.  
"Rakshasa, come to me!" Purgatori held out her hand to her beloved, but Rakshasa simply continued to gaze up at the Saviour in adoration, as did Silence.  
The Saviour placed his hands on their heads and stroked them as though they were pets. "They have seen the light," he told them. "They belong to the Lord, now!"  
With a scream of fury, Purgatori charged at the Saviour, her claws reaching for his throat. The Saviour caught her wrists in his hands, and at his touch her skin burned and sizzled. Purgatori howled in furious agony.  
"The light of my faith burns demons like you," he told her.  
Lady Death threw off Bedlam's hold on her and ran forward, Apocalypse held high. The Saviour took out his holy amulet and held it up, and it began to glow in his hands. Lady Death hacked at him, but her sword bounced off an invisible barrier around him. Bad Kitty and Bedlam fired their weapons at him, but the bullets also bounced off the shield.  
Jade summoned her emerald dragon and it reared up over the Saviour. It thrust its jaws down at him and swallowed him whole. The dragon then convulsed, and there was a burst of light from within its stomach. The dragon exploded into green mist, which dispersed to reveal the Saviour standing, unharmed.  
"Girls, punish them for their blasphemy. Kill them."  
At the Saviour's words, Silence and Rakshasa leapt up, casting off their robes. Silence drew out a pair of katanas and ran at Jade, who fended her off desperately. Rakshasa transformed into a giant demonic panther and bounded at Purgatori, tearing at her with her savage claws.  
"Rakshasa, no!" Purgatori cried out in despair.  
While Jade and Purgatori fought for their lives against their dearest friends, Lady Death, Chastity, Oblivia, Cremator, Vandala and Vulnavia all hacked and slashed and beat at the impenetrable barrier around the Saviour. Bedlam and Bad Kitty continued to fire at the barrier, but were unable to penetrate it.  
Sarah Wilson also threw her power at the Saviour, but even her dark energy was unable to penetrate the barrier around him. But with every attack, she noticed the amulet in his hands pulse with light.  
Concentrating, Sarah focused the dark energy around the amulet, and hid its light from view, blocking it out completely.  
The barrier around the Saviour collapsed. Lady Death wrapped the chain of Scynister around his throat, pulled him forward, and thrust the blade of Apocalypse into his chest, all the way up to the hilt. The Saviour fell down, dead at her feet.  
Upon the Saviour's death, Rakshasa and Silence immediately ceased their attack. Rakshasa changed back to her human form and sank her face into Purgatori's arms.  
"Oh beloved," she sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."  
Purgatori stroked her hair tenderly. "It's okay, my love. Everything's going to be okay now."  
Bedlam gazed out over the fleeing crowd, listening to their screams of terror and despair. He also glanced at the cameras at the back, and saw that the broadcasting lights were on.  
"Time to go." Bedlam murmured, and with a bright flash of light, the dark alliance disappeared from the stage.  
  
In Winterhaven, the dark alliance discussed their future.  
"Things are gonna get nasty back on our world, now," Bedlam told them. "We just murdered a holy preacher in front of a crowd of thousands, live on national television. We are about as popular now as Bin Laden. There ain't nowhere we can go that we won't be attacked on sight."  
"Nevertheless, Lucifer is there, somewhere," Lady Death replied. "No matter what happens, I am going to find him, and kill him."  
"We will guard Winterhaven for you, sister," Vandala told her. "I suggest you leave Cremator and Brock here with us."  
"I belong with Rakshasa," Purgatori spoke up, "and Rakshasa belongs on Earth. We still have to find a place called Kelethar."  
"Hmmm," Bedlam replied. "I might be able to help you with that."  
"I will not abandon China to the Triads," Jade said. "Return me to my home."  
"I still have friends on Earth," Chastity said. "I have to make sure they're okay."  
"I don't belong here either," said Bad Kitty, stroking the mangy cat on her shoulder.  
"Neither do I," said Sarah. "I need to find out what's happening to me."  
"Very well," Bedlam said. "I will take you all to where you need to be. But we have to stay in contact. I'll leave a bit o' my power with each o' you. And if you find yourselves in need of each other, think of that person, and you will be brought together. But this will only work once. So be careful."  
Bedlam held out his hands, and each member of the dark alliance placed their hands upon his. Their hands began to glow, as the alliance was sealed, and their destinies brought together.  
  
On Earth, in a room that did not officially exist, five men met. Four of them sat around a table, drinking strong coffee, while the fifth stood before them.  
On the back wall, a bank of television screens replayed the death of Neox, along with the terrible slaughters in Chicago and San Francisco and Times Square. The faces of those involved in these events were focused on and frozen on the screen.  
"As you can see, Mr Molto," said the man in front of the screens, "these people are extremely dangerous. Gallows' visions have proven to be true. If you had listened to him, all those people might still be alive, now. Gallows himself might still be alive."  
"Well he isn't," spoke Mr Molto, one of the old men who was seated at the table. "Gallows' body was discovered in that church Neox told us about, his heart torn out of his chest. How was I to know he was telling to truth? God! How was I to know that magic was real and that vampires and werewolves and monsters actually exist?!"  
"Well, now you know."  
"You have a plan to stop them?"  
"Yes, Mr Molto, I do. All I need is the authority to do whatever I need to do."  
"You have it, Mr Lourde, you have it." 


	6. Purgatori: Ravenous

**The Chaos Chronicles**

**Purgatori**

**Ravenous**

_Based on the unpublished comic by Dan Jolley, this story begins in 1997, during the Dracula Gambit. Purgatori has tracked Dracula down to his keep in Romania, only to discover that he was waiting for her. They feel an instant attraction to one another, and immediately become lovers. As they do so, Dracula begins to teach her that to be a legend, one must remain human at heart._

Purgatori, feeling her crimson flesh soaked with sweat, opened her eyes and stared up at the silk canopy above her. She turned her head sideways, to stare into the eyes of the handsome vampire lying next to her. He gave her a lopsided smile, allowing her a glimpse of his fangs.

"How does it feel," he asked her, "to truly make love? Is it not better than your former methods? Is it not preferable to hear the passionate moans of a lover, rather than the terrified screams of a victim?"

"I…am still undecided," Purgatori admitted.

"Then perhaps you should ask her." Dracula gestured lazily past her shoulder, and Purgatori turned over, to gaze into the soft features of a female vampire, her pale skin smooth and unblemished, showing the young age at which she had been turned.

The vampire bride gazed back at Purgatori, and smiled seductively. Purgatori leaned in close, and pressed her black lips against the bride's red ones, and caressed her tongue with her own. The bride gasped softly with pleasure.

Purgatori ended the kiss and leaned back. She turned around, to see Dracula standing beside the bed, draping a fine silk robe over his shoulders. He fastened the belt, then held a hand out to her.

"Come," he told her, "there is still much for you to learn."

Purgatori took his hand, and rose.

The two of them left the keep, and took the count's carriage down to the nearby village. It was still night, with many hours until the rise of the hated sun in this cold and mountainous land.

The carriage stopped in the main square, and Dracula climbed down, holding a hand out for Purgatori as though she was a noble human lady. Inside, she bristled at the thought, but suppressed her irritation and stepped down gracefully.

"Why are we here?" she asked the count.

"There are things I would have you see?" he replied, as he led her off down one of the streets. "Look around, tell me what you see."

"I see a filthy mortal settlement. The buildings are old and dirty, and the streets haven't been cleaned in centuries. This place reeks of poverty and squalor."

"Indeed," Dracula replied. "It is just as you would expect of a village that is placed so close to the lair of a vampire lord. You no doubt expect the people to be terrified and oppressed, slaves to my will, living only to quench my endless thirst for blood."

"As it should be," Purgatori hissed.

"No," Dracula disagreed. "Mortals have a value far beyond the liquid gold that flows through their veins. Slaves have no value at all."

Dracula guided her to rundown shack in the middle of a lonely street. He rapped on the door authoritively, and the door opened a crack. An old woman peered through, and her eyes widened upon seeing the count. She unlatched the door and opened it wide, allowing Dracula and Purgatori to step through.

The room inside was large, taking up most of the first floor of the shack. It was far warmer than the outside made it appear, with clean and painted walls, several paintings, and even a stone fireplace which blazed comfortably.

The old woman curtseyed deeply to the count, and gave another to Purgatori. The demoness raised an eyebrow, unaccustomed to such respect. Her wings, horns, and blood-red skin usually had most mortals fleeing in terror, or reaching for stakes and crucifixes.

"Where are the children?" Dracula asked the old woman.

"They are in the back room, kept separate from the others, my lord," she replied. "We have been waiting for you, and the release only you can bring."

"Lead on," Dracula told her, and the old woman guided her through the far doorway. As they followed the old woman towards the rear of the building, Purgatori crept up behind Dracula and hissed into his ear.

"Are we here to feed?"

"No, Purgatori," Dracula replied, careful not to let her see the exasperation on his face. "We are not here to feed."

Annoyed and confused, Purgatori fell back a step, and peered past the count's shoulder when he stopped at the doorway to another room. This room was smaller, but had room for several beds. Each bed was occupied by a sleeping child. As Purgatori watched, she saw one of the children toss fitfully, and moan in pain.

Dracula stepped into the room, and Purgatori followed. Dracula examined each of the children, pulling back their bedcovers and placing a pale hand upon their brows. Purgatori also examined them, and saw that they were all covered with cold sweat, and shook with fever. It was clear that every one of them was sick, maybe dying.

"Is there anything you can do, my lord?" the old woman asked, worry evident in her voice. "The little ones won't last much longer."

Dracula removed a small capsule from his pocket, and held it out to the old woman. "Your children suffer from a disease that is known to me," he told her. "Give them three tablets each day, morning, noon and night, and it will cure them."

The old woman took the capsule, rattling it gently in her fist. She lifted her eyes and gazed at the count gratefully, tears welling in her eyes.

"Thank you, my lord. You are so kind."

"Think nothing of it," Dracula replied. "The medicine was difficult to acquire, even for me, but I will not let children suffer and die if I can help stop it."

As the old woman hurried off to store the medicine in a safe place, Dracula turned towards Purgatori, who sneered at him.

"How pathetic. Helping humans when we should be feeding on them? I should slaughter every child in this building."

"Indeed?" Dracula raised an eyebrow. "Is your thirst so uncontrollable? Are you that much of a beast?"

"I can control it," she hissed. "I just don't see why I should."

"Very well, how about a compromise." Dracula waved an arm back into room full of sleeping children. "Why don't you go in there and take just one child and feed on him. Just one."

"They are sick, diseased."

"We are vampires, immortal. Human diseases cannot harm us. Go ahead, take one."

Purgatori frowned, but then glided past him into the room. She gazed around at the children as they lay helpless in their beds. Several of them moaned fitfully, others lay quiet.

She blinked, feeling a strange and unfamiliar sense of indecisiveness. Her eyes drifted across each of them, as she struggled to decide which one to take. Finally, she stepped over to the nearest, and sat down on the edge of the bed. The child was a young boy, no older then ten years old. His hair was a curly brown, and his features were hardened prematurely from fever and squalor. Yet his mouth had upward wrinkles, and even in sleep he smiled, as though smiling came so naturally he could not help it, even when dying.

Purgatori leaned down close, her lips reaching for his throat. Yet as she did so she gazed into his fevered yet strangely peaceful features, and she was overcome with a reluctance she could not explain. She hesitated, her fangs inches from his throat, and then she leaned back, pulled the covers up to the boy's chin, and rose.

She strode out the room, her head held up haughtily. Dracula said nothing, but simply followed.

In the streets of the village, Dracula once more took the lead. Purgatori raged behind him, though whether at him or at herself, she did not know.

"I could have killed that child," she insisted.

"But you didn't," Dracula responded. "We are not slaves to our thirst, unless we allow ourselves to be. Just because we are vampires, does not mean we have to be monsters too."

"I _like _being a monster!"

"That is because being a monster is all you know."

Dracula turned down another street, and Purgatori gazed past him, her eyes opening wide at the sight of the building where they were headed. It was a large and ornate structure, with stained glass windows and a stone crucifix mounted atop the steeple.

"Are you leading us to a _church?" _Purgatori exclaimed.

"That I am," the count replied, his pace not slowing at all. Purgatori followed after, her footsteps beginning to drag as she came closer. With each step, she could feel the lethal power of faith and righteousness flowing from the church. Yet Dracula strode up unafraid.

Dracula stopped outside the doors, and turned back. Purgatori had stopped, still several metres away from the structure. She gazed at it. Bright yellow light streamed through the windows, and the sound of music, voices and laughter flowed from behind the walls. The church was clearly open, and some kind of ceremony was taking place within.

Dracula held out a hand to her. "All are welcome in God's House," he told her.

"You believe in God?" she asked, incredulous.

"Kind of difficult not to," Dracula replied with a lopsided grin.

Feeling the power of faith ripple across her flesh and drive needles of agony into her soul, Purgatori could not help but agree. "If we are welcome, then why do I feel the urge to flee this place in terror?"

"Perhaps the urge comes not from this place, but from within yourself. Perhaps the thing you wish to flee, is your own dark soul."

"You speak in riddles!"

Dracula turned, and opened the doors of the church, allowing golden light to flow across them both. "Come, Purgatori," he called back. "Push the hate and fear deep down within yourself. You have nothing to fear from this place."

Dracula stepped inside, leaving the demoness alone on the street. Purgatori hissed in rage and pain, but she refused to allow the count to get the better of her. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She focused on her hate, imagined all her enemies, living and dead, in a single place, and bundled them up in a small box. She then buried the box in a deep place within her soul, and left it there.

Opening her eyes, Purgatori breathed deeply, and walked up to the church. She still felt ripples of pain and terror wash over her, but she found she could ignore them now, or perhaps absorb them, allowing them to flow into the same place as the box. Whatever the reason, Purgatori found she could enter the church with only a vague sense of uncomfortableness.

The church was filled with people, most of them seated on pews. The majority of the humans ignored her, their attention focused towards the far end of the church, where a reverend stood upon a dais, speaking to the crowd.

Directly before the reverend stood two people, a man and a woman. The man wore a fine black suit, while the woman wore a magnificent white dress. She looked beautiful, and Purgatori's breath was taken away.

As the demoness entered, the reverend concluded his speech. "Then, by the power invested in me by our lord, Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

The groom leaned in to kiss his new wife, and she responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around him. The crowd cheered happily, and an atmosphere of joy and love filled the air of the hall.

Purgatori hissed in rage, as the box within her soul burst open, and hate filled her. She felt an uncontrollable urge to kill everyone in sight, and flexing her claws, she stepped forward to act on that urge.

Beside her, Dracula placed a vice-like grip on her shoulder, forcing her to stop. Purgatori turned and hissed at him.

"Let me go! I am going to kill them all!"

"Why? They have done nothing to you."

"This display of affection sickens me. Don't you feel it?"

Dracula closed his eyes. "Yes. I feel it. I too feel the envy of knowing that love – true, human love – is something that I will never again feel. But I refuse to let my envy control me, anymore than my thirst. Take the hate. Take the rage and fear and envy. Take the frustration and despair of knowing that we are both more and yet so much less than human, and use it. Use it against your enemies. Use it to gain power. We are not simply blood-drinking parasites. We are creatures of passion and rage. _That _is what gives us our power. Once you accept that, then you become a legend."

Purgatori gazed at him, her eyes wide, as she finally felt a glimmer of understanding. She turned back to the crowd, and watched them celebrate the joy of life and love, of everything that was human. She felt the rage and hate build inside her, but she held it in, held it down, and sealed it tightly within her soul.

The two of them walked back to the main square, where their carriage awaited. Dracula opened the door and gestured for her to enter. Purgatori paused, her hand on the door.

"If you care so much for these people, why do you keep them in poverty? You have enough wealth to make each one of them a king."

"Because they are _my _people," Dracula replied. "I do care for them, and I will allow no harm to come to them, but I will also never let them forget that they belong to _me!_"

Purgatori nodded. This, at least, she understood. The two of them spent the journey back up to the keep in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Once in the courtyard, they stepped out of the carriage and headed for the inner citadel. Before she had taken three steeps, however, Purgatori suddenly hunched over, wrapping her arms over her stomach, and howled.

Dracula stopped and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder. Purgatori turned her face up at him and hissed in rage and anguish, tears streaming from her eyes.

"What have you done to me?" She howled.

"I have done nothing but remind you of your lost humanity. The pain you feel is nothing to be afraid of. It is simply your heart, your true heart, beating once more."

Purgatori stood up, grasped his collar, and snarled into his face.

"Make it stop," she demanded.

"Do you really want it to?" Dracula asked her. "Do you really wish to forsake all these feelings and sensations, the true mark of humanity. Without those feelings, we are simply monsters, less than the lowliest beast."

"I do not want my humanity!" Purgatori shrieked, clawing at his face in rage and despair. "I do not want these feelings of remorse and despair! I am Purgatori! I do not need these feelings! Make them stop or I will destroy you!"

Dracula gazed at her, the gashes on his face already healing.

"Very well," he told her. "Come with me."

Dracula turned and walked into the citadel. Purgatori followed, dashing unfamiliar tears from her face.

Within the great hall of the citadel, Dracula stood before her, holding a large tome in his hands.

"This is how I knew of you," Dracula told her. "This book was written by your own sire, Rath the Celt; it tells of your past, and even hints at your future. It is his journal, his grimoire. He calls it, 'The Way of the Flesh.'"

Purgatori's eyes focused on the book lustfully.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't take that book for my own," she hissed.

"Do you wish to be free of your humanity, or don't you?" he responded.

Purgatori said nothing, but made no move to take the book. Dracula opened it to one of the pages. With his free hand, he gestured over at one of the alcoves, and two of his brides entered, dragging a small child in with them. The child was sick and feverish, but awake, and his eyes were filled with terror.

Purgatori gazed at the child, and recognized him. He was the same boy that she had almost fed on earlier that night.

"The magic of this book has a cannibalistic focus," Dracula told her. "If the spell I am about to cast is to succeed, you must kill this child, and eat his heart."

Purgatori glared at him. "I thought you had sworn to protect the villagers from harm!"

"From all harm, but my own," Dracula replied.

Purgatori hissed at him, but then stalked up to the child, as he cowered in the grip of the brides. She gazed down at him, and felt a part of her – a part she had long thought dead and buried – feel the urge to slay every vampire in the keep and carry the boy to safety. While she wrestled with her centuries-dormant conscience, she heard Dracula begin to chant behind her. The chanting was eerie and spectral, and caused her very soul to ripple in loathing.

Suddenly, the chanting ceased. "Now," Dracula cried out from behind her. "Drink from the child."

With a single sob of grief and self-loathing, Purgatori reached down and gripped the boy in her arms. She held him close, and sank her fangs into her throat. As the sweet, coppery taste of blood washed down her throat, the familiar, addictive, seductive sensation drowned out her grief, until al that remained was the need to drink.

Behind her, Dracula continued to chant, the words pulsing in her ears. As the magic reached a crescendo within her, she held the boy out away from her with one hand and, screaming with both triumph and despair, she sank the claws of her other hand into his chest, tearing out his heart in a spray of blood.

Dropping the corpse carelessly, she lifted the heart up to her lips and swallowed it with a single gulp.

A wave of disorientation washed over her. She felt the magic ripple through her soul, rearranging her thoughts and memories and feelings. Time lost all meaning. She relived her slavery, her marriage, her betrayal at the hands of everyone. She felt again the ecstasy and agony in Rath's massive arms, as he drank her blood and fed her his own. She hunted down Dracula again, the years passing in an eyeblink. And she experienced glimpses of the future, of chaos and destruction, of war and death and Armageddon.

After an eternity, Purgatori opened her eyes. The keep was empty. Neither Dracula nor his brides were anywhere to be seen.

Purgatori listened, but all was silent and empty. The fireplace was cold. Purgatori stretched out her senses, but felt nothing. The citadel was empty.

She looked down, half-expecting to find a body at her feet. But the stones were cold and dry and bare.

With nothing to keep her there, Purgatori snarled absently and strode to the door. Kicking it open, she marched outside, spread her wings, and flew off into the night.

Shrouded by sorcery, Dracula watched her depart from the highest tower of the keep. He kept his eyes on her until she was lost to view, fading away in the moonlight.

When she could no longer be seen, Dracula turned to face the only other person in the room. He was a large, overweight man, with the fangs of a vampire protruding over his lower lip.

Dracula picked up Rath's journal from a nearby table, and handed it to the other vampire, who took it and held it carefully.

"Take the grimoire, Bassa," Dracula ordered his servant, "and deliver it to those who would keep it safe. The magic did more than simply erase the details of this night from Purgatori's memory. It bound her and the tome together, and began a transformation within her. There will come a time when her humanity is all but lost to her, when the monster within her is at its peak. At that time, the grimoire will call to her, and summon her, whether she wills it or not. At that time, she will finally be made to face her humanity, and then she will have to choose, once and for all, whether to be human, or to be a monster."

"Why did you not simply destroy her?" Bassa asked.

"She is more useful to me alive," Dracula replied. "But she is not ready to face the truth about herself. Only when her soul is at its darkest, will she be ready to see the light, and dare to walk into the shadows that exist between both the darkness and the light. When that time comes, the tome will be waiting, and so will I."

"I leave at once, master." Bassa bowed and left the room.

Alone once more, Dracula turned and stared off into the night.


End file.
